{"id":60083,"date":"2023-08-01T17:41:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T21:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=60083"},"modified":"2023-08-01T20:14:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T00:14:02","slug":"verlander-trade-astros-mets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/01\/verlander-trade-astros-mets\/","title":{"rendered":"Astros Reunite With Former Cy Young Winner, Make Trade With Mets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/06\/24\/astros-pitcher-j-p-france\/\" target=\"_self\">Houston Astros<\/a> have again traded for Justin Verlander at the deadline, acquiring him from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/07\/31\/mets-trade-veteran-infielder-brewers\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Mets<\/a>. <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Astros were the defending World Series champions coming into 2023, but they have scuffled a bit this season.\u00a0 They face only a half-game deficit in the division.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Full trade, per ESPN sources:<\/p>\n<p>Astros receive: RHP Justin Verlander.<\/p>\n<p>Mets receive: OF Drew Gilbert and OF Ryan Clifford.<\/p>\n<p>Deal is done.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeffPassan\/status\/1686452728937988106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Houston&#8217;s rotation has been dicey this season, marred by injuries and inconsistency. For the Mets, this continues their sell-off at the deadline after dealing Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Let&#8217;s examine the Verlander trade for both teams and the MLB playoff race.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Verlander Trade: Back to Houston<\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Astros Acquire Frontline Starter<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Verlander is the reigning AL Cy Young winner and pitched one of the finest seasons of his Hall of Fame career last year in Houston. After signing a record-tying deal in the offseason with the Mets, Verlander now returns to Southeast Texas. This season, he&#8217;s been adequate without being dominant. He&#8217;s posted a 6-5 record with a 3.15 ERA in 16 starts. He opened the season on the injured list but returned in May and has pitched regularly since. Verlander was previously traded to the Astros at the deadline in 2017, where he helped Houston win their first World Series title. He figures to rejoin the rotation at the top. Framber Valdez has been inconsistent this season, Cristian Javier has struggled with his more significant role, and Houston has had to rely on two rookies, JP France and Hunter Brown, for consistent innings. Though Verlander is now 40 years old, he will pitch valuable innings for the Astros down the stretch as they fight for the postseason.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mets Stockpile More Prospects<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As the summer has stretched, the Mets have pivoted to selling valuable pieces from their high-priced roster. Verlander is just the next domino to fall, and in exchange, New York receives two of the Astros&#8217; top five prospects. Double-A outfielder Drew Gilbert is number 69 on MLB.com&#8217;s\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/prospects\/top100\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Top 100 Prospects list<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Across two levels this year, he&#8217;s slashed .274\/.363\/.458 with 12 home runs. He combines excellent bat-to-ball skills with moderate power and plays solid defense with a good throwing arm. Clifford, another outfielder, has hit .291 this season and flashed plus power, hitting 18 home runs. Though neither player will likely make the majors for two years, they immediately upgrade New York&#8217;s farm system. The Verlander deal has accelerated the Mets youth movement and brought valuable prospects to Queens. However, it&#8217;s difficult to view the trade, and the Mets season as a whole, as anything but a failure.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Impact on the MLB Postseason<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Verlander trade adds some color to the AL postseason race. For most of the season, the Astros have been a distant second to the Rangers in the AL West but have recently closed the gap. Both teams will likely qualify for the postseason, but the question of who wins the division is murkier. Despite this, Houston addressed their most significant need and solidified their spot as a playoff favorite. Teams chasing a postseason berth, notably the Los Angeles Angels, now have a more challenging task to vault Houston and make their way into October.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p>Players Mentioned: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/verlaju01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Verlander<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/scherma01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Scherzer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/valdefr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Framber Valdez<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/javiecr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cristian Javier<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/francjp01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.P. France<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownhu01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hunter Brown<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=gilber002and#:~:text=Drew%20Gilbert%20Positions%3A%20Centerfielder%2C%20Rightfielder%20and%20Leftfielder%20Bats%3A,Astros%20%28minors%29%20More%20bio%2C%20uniform%2C%20draft%2C%20salary%20info\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Gilbert<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Houston Astros have again traded for Justin Verlander at the deadline, acquiring him from the New York Mets. The Astros were the defending World Series champions coming into 2023, but they have scuffled a bit this season.\u00a0 They face only a half-game deficit in the division. Full trade, per ESPN sources: Astros receive: RHP [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4771,"featured_media":60090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1071,22],"tags":[2359,5519,6446,247,156,79,259],"class_list":["post-60083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astros","category-mlb","category-mets","tag-framber-valdez","tag-hunter-brown","tag-j-p-france","tag-justin-verlander","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-max-scherzer","tag-texas-rangers"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4771"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}