To be fair, Nolan broke the mold of expectations for an aging Fastball pitcher. They'd take a chance on knuckleballers and junkball pitchers, but everybody KNEW fastball pitchers wouldn't last. Koufax was on everybodies mind.
So let me get this straight...John Wall was basically asked to ride the pine and he's still planning on going with the team to the games, practices, etc. Meanwhile, JV comes here and wins his coveted ring, signs a $33M/yr deal and he won't throw a pitch over the span of said contract, and where exactly is he to be found? Edit: Yeah, hard pass on paying him any more money...would much rather overpay Correa (and yes obviously I know this isn't a real factor in the decision given the length)
Difference in health/safety protocols on healthy players on the roster and injured players rehabbing. The only thing that could be questioned is to had he gotten the surgery when first diagnosed, maybe he’d be closer to coming back… but would have still been pushing it. But as it is, he tried to rest/rehab it and see if there was a chance he could pitch with the pain like LMJ did in 2018 (he had a torn UCL during the playoffs, and had surgery almost immediately after they were eliminated).
He pitched 6 innings of that contract. In hindsight he should have had the surgery and maybe came back for an October push, but he wanted to come back for an October push last year, and if he had, we very well may have been playing the Dodgers in the World Series. Who cares about him not being with the team right now? He'd be nothing but a distraction.
If that's the case then understandable and good to know - I wasn't aware of that although makes since with COVID you wouldn't bring an extra body. The comments about wanting to return to Detroit already had me a bit annoyed and I just saw him posting pics of Ferrari's and him acting like James Bond on Twitter so it set me off a bit, especially considering guys like Evan Gattis and Josh Reddick still are so connected to the Astros (attending games, backing the team on Twitter and against haters, etc.).
He's still posting pics of him in an Astros uni. Reminiscing about the no-hitter last year when they traded Toro. Reminiscing about his 3,000'th K. Reminiscing about the ALCS and obviously WS wins... He's posted enough about his Astros time to suggest he would likely consider coming back here if the offer/timing was right. The Astros still are likely in a better place for next year vs. the Tigers, in terms of winning it all. While he's not from Houston, he spoke glowingly of how much he loved being around these guys, how the clubhouse environment was to his liking... and surprisingly how he was more of a fan of the local media vs. the Detroit beat-writers (I believe he had a personal run-in with one of them, got him banned from the clubhouse). Ultimately, he's from Michigan... he spent nearly his entire career with the Tigers... I won't feel like the Astros got slighted if he ultimately decides to retire as a Tiger. Its only if he decides to go straight money-grab and end up with the Angels (who will likely overpay anybody this off-season) that I'd raise an eyebrow.
If JV comes back…man. JV, LMJ, Framber is one helluva 1-3, not to mention Urquidy, Garcia, and the rest of our SPs coming up the pipeline. Just nasty. Would be top 5 rotation in baseball if JV can come back to 90% of what he was, granted we’ll have to see how he manages without the sticky stuff.
I say JV resigns. He loves the organization and has a good relationship with the front office. Correa will ultimately resign too for a huge contract. Crane is gonna do it.
Verlander has done enough for this team and in his career he can literally do whatever he wants. It sucks that he was injured for the duration of the contract but it was only a 2 year deal, most likely in case something like this were to occur. He could’ve easily signed a 5 year contact for more money but chose to sign for less years at a higher dollar figure. As a result he has the freedom to do what he wants after those 2 years. At the end of the day I’d love to see him back on a reasonable deal, it would be the good guy thing to do. But he was crucial in getting us a World Series, and if he’s pitched his last pitch as an Astro, I still literally love him.
Why would he be staring at his naked wife through a window like this? Are they role-playing a Fast Times at Ridgemont High fantasy?
