Not surprising that he’d think it, disappointing that he’d verbalize it. The right answer for him is “I loved my time in Detroit but right now I’m an Astro and love being on this team too.” That’s the least he can do for $33M.
I think JV’s been in the league long enough, and accomplished enough, to where he doesn’t have to simply speak in cliches. It’s not like he’s not going to pitch his ass off here (if he gets a chance to again). Isn’t this simply coming out now because they just played Detroit and it was likely their media that asked him his thoughts on this? Did Astros fans get mad whenever the Houston media used to ask Clemens about the possibility of pitching for his hometown while he was still under contracts for other teams? (And he gave cliche’d answers?)
Being annoyed with this is making a mountain out of a mole hill. He gave the Detroit press the sound bite they wanted.
The hand writing on the wall says keep your options open. The Astros may not want to keep him and the Tigers may. Were we upset that Keuchel still considers Houston Home or thinks of McCullers like a son (sort of)?
Signing Verlander will require sacrifices on both the Astros and the Verlander Camps. There will be more money available in the open market for him. Plus, the Astros have way too much talent they have to pay and retain, if they want to continue to plug in holes as proven veteran continue to leave. Therefore, though I think both sides respect each other, at the end of the day, aging veterans go, while still productive will fare better for a team still building for the now and the future. So I fully expect they are going to be letting Greinke, Verlander, and Correa go via free agency, which will save the Astros a lot of money they can invest in other options. Altuve is the face of the team. Bregman I think is being groomed to be the air apparent to Atluve (Bregman after all was #2 in MVP voting in 2019). Plus Kyle Tucker and Alvarez are smoking young stars. Brantley and Gurriel signed affordable deals that go through next season, so two all-star players who signed team friendly deals is sheet gravy. For a one year or a two year deal, it may be reasonable to bring in Verlander and/or Greinke, but as I said, it will require them leaving money and years off a potential last big contract signing. I'm enjoying the season the Astros are having right now though!
Everybody has an opinion on what Jim Crane should do with his money. Certainly this year is an example that you need both young guys who are cheap, guys in their prime getting paid to produce, and veterans who have one or two more good years left in them. The Astros have done a good job not being locked into a ton of bad deals that pay for past performance. Even signing a guy like Correa doesn't necessarily put them on the hook for that. Altuve could turn into that if he starts his downswing, but he's humming along at the moment. Bregman needs to get over his leg injuries and get back to hitting at an MVP level... something he also didn't do much of last year.... before we start declaring him the heir apparent. Alvarez is going to be relied upon to be a producer. Tucker as well, but to a slightly lesser degree. Luckily they're young/talented enough that this offense shouldn't be concerned about bottoming out... but currently as is, this is not just the best offense in baseball, its once again one of the best offenses ever.
Coming off TJS I don't think anyone will offer Verlander more than 2 years. It'll come down to dollars. I think if Verlander thinks he will pitch more than 3 more seasons, he will limit his suitors this offseason to contending teams. There will be a dozen or so teams interested in him and hopefully his familiarity with the Astros gives them an advantage, although the cheating scandal may also have him wanting to get out asap. I think its an excellent fit for both JV and the Astros but who knows.
With umpires checking for sticky stuff every game, I don't want Verlander back unless he pitches this season and shows he can still get guys out. Plus we already have 6 deep in the rotation going into next year with Framber, McCullers, Urquidy, Garcia, Odorizzi, and Javier. I'd rather trade Odorizzi and upgrade to someone like Gausman than pay a 39 year old coming off TJ 15-20 million that will be innings limited. Gausman can't have a qualifying offer attached since he had one for this season.
Astros probably aren't signing both JV and Correa, so a lot of this depends on their interest in Correa and how long they are willing to wait and see what he's doing.
Absolutely. Bring back the "Foamer" inning...free peanuts for everyone (limit 3)...in-stadium penalty box (an entire upper deck worthless section) for people doing the wave (2nd offense, 1 month ban) or interfering with balls in the stands...and I've already mentioned in another thread how he should advertise the Stros in the other 29 cities.
I like the idea of Gausman. Dude has been so filthy this year. I was worried about umps checking his sticky substance situation, since he goes to his cap every pitch, but he seems to be doing just fine with that splitter and still has major movement on his balls.
Recovery from Tommy John is a very individual thing. Generally, it is risky, but helpful for those who cannot perform well without it. Some have to change styles or how they are used and others do not. It is generally more successful when done well at an early age. This is not special about Tommy John, but is generally true with all surgery since younger people are generally able to recover quicker than older people. For Verlander, he hopes TJ ws just a bump in the road. But nobody knows. He's at an age where some decline is expected in general, but he has shown the ability to exceed expectations all his life. So it's risky to presume success or failure. There's just no way to know before he has already tried. The bigger question is how much is he worth with the uncertainty coming off TJ at his age? I guess we'll find out when he signs a new contract. But who signs him is also uncertain.
Out of all pitchers who were already established and elite, prior to the surgery, who failed to come back and be dominant?
"Oscar" Moyer https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/moyerja01.shtml TJ in 2011. Retired 2012. Of course he was 48, not 38. It's hard to find comparables because mot get TJ before age 32 with mixed success. This is an excellent article if you like graphs and stats. But it does a good jon explaining the meaning to those who don't. Make sure to look at the breakdown by age when the TJ was performed which is deep in the article. https://tht.fangraphs.com/tommy-john-surgery-success-rates-in-the-majors/
If the best you can come up with is 48 year old Jamie Moyer, who was never as dominant or elite as some of the other guys on the list or JV, the expectation will remain that the surgery is by no means a career threatener. the biggest questions around JV are the same ones we all had going into 2020. He wore down pitching every start in 2019. He was going to need some built in rest if there was a full season last year. He got that, and then some. while no surgery is ever routine, I’d be more worried if former all stars weren’t making it back. The biggest issue with TJS is that it’s basically a 2 year recovery time to pitch with no restrictions.
