I would be down for this............JV can be streaky, for good and bad but the dude is a HORSE and I would try and drain every last bit out of him at the right time
A fair number, although I'd still go 9 base, an extra 2 across easy bonuses (12 starts or 120 IP or 100 K?) with risers from there.
All things said about Verlander age & advanced numbers, had 3.85 ERA. If ranked on '25 Astros, woulda had the 3rd most starts & innings pitched by far. Basically the #3 starter, while the Costanza Alexanders & Brandon Walters overachieve bottom of rotation. Every year is much more risk that JV is done. Buts it's also like, Stros can't keep arms healthy anyway, who isn't a risk anymore
[Late but] In short - me admittedly not a deep baseball guy - I would pay Yankees/Dodgers rate to keep top 5-10 pitchers. If they're middle of rotation performing top 20'ish or near '98 Big Unit numbers, keep 'em. My one simplistic "justified sinking money" approach. (I was trying make "analysis" by saying what's the point of letting JV go, just to lose prospects to get him back anyway. But that's over-complicating it. This is who cares about payroll thinking) The point is just don't let them go in the first place and live with the excess cost
On his podcast today, Chandler Rome said he would put the chances the Astros bring him back at over 50%. As long as he is paired with another, better, SP I'm good with this
Astros have to replace 400 IP (actually 399.2) from Framber, Gusto, Walter, Blanco, Wesneski, and Garcia. Pearson helps, but at least 1 more and likely 2 more SP are needed. I needs to be a TOR guy and it would help if he was LH.
Didn’t understand why they let him go last year. Same scenario, a year later. We need a middle of the rotation innings eater. It’s not like he is going to get a huge deal, so it’s not much of a risk.
Only 152 innings, but that would have been 3rd on the team by a mile. Anything is better than what we have.
I don't quite understand how everybody is on board bringing Verlander back and same time we are pondering how to save couple millions here and there with trades. I watched many Giants games last season and even when late season he was getting good results he was struggling every inning. Pitching clock clearly effects him now and he looks max effort running a marathon pretty early on. No whiffs and trouble throwing strikes. Slider has looked day by day worse for few years now. Curveball has lost lot of velocity and FB has no movement at all. The results came from pitchers ballpark and good D with Giants plus getting future HOF zone from umps as he should(does't get that with Astros). I would like to keep most of the fabulous memories and not start again stressing from halfway season are they really gonna put him in playoff roster. Sign somebody younger and bring young guys up and spin the wheel like with OF lottery we have going trying to keep window open. No need to pay 10m+ for guy who is done and then try to save that in panic moves to get under luxury tax. The worse part is I don't wanna have neg.feelings for such a legend but that will happen if he comes back because I want Astros to win. No need to dampen the legacy.
I agree for the most part, but we definitely need a decent vet that can eat some innings and a 1 or 2 pitcher to take Valdez spot. I’m ok with Valdez on a decent deal, but somebody is going to pay big bucks for him. Verlander may be the best we can do at around 10m.
2019 Verlander is not walking through that door. But that guy was worth $50M/yr. Current version of Verlander can still provide value and be a good addition for the right price. Anyone who gives him $17M+ is either foolish or has unlimited payroll flexibility. At $12M-$17M he’s a risk for a lot of teams but if somebody thinks he will be a playoff caliber pitcher (which is on the fringes of his better outcomes) then he is worth it. At $11M or less he’s a good value. The Astros have to add SP and they could do worse than Verlander. If you analyze Verlander against the other FA SP who will sign in the $10M-$15M range he compares favorably imho. But yeah somebody is probably going to overpay him.
It's mostly simple. 1) The Astros lost 340 innings they got from Framber, Gusto, Walter, and Garcia who will definitely not pitch for the Astros in 2026. 2) Blanco, and Wesneski combined for another 80 and likely won't pitch this year and even if they do it won't he until we'll into the 2nd half. 3) Hunter Brown is the only SP on this roster who has not missed extensive time due to injury in the past 2 years or has at least 1 full season as an MLB starter. 4) 13 different pitchers started multiple games last year and only 7 of them are healthy and still on the team. 2019 or 2022 JV is never coming back. But 2025 JV would have been the 3rd best starter on this team last year (who wasn't lost to injury) He is as dependable as any SP the Astros have a chance to get and they need AT LEAST 2 starters.
I would love Verlander to join the Astros in 2026 and even 2027 and pitch to a 3.50 era and win 25-30 games in that time span. Would be awesome to watch him and see him help the team and perhaps push him into the Hall of Fame in an Astros jersey. Having said that - not sure I really think he is a smart signing. I will never doubt his preparation and determination. However, he is a 5 inning pitcher at this point, he has injury issues, and the Astros need guys that can give competitive innings, especially losing Framber.
