Justin Verlander Traded to Houston before 8/31 Waiver Deadline
Just minutes before the 8/31 Waiver Deadline hit 11:59pm the Houston Astros made a bold move to bolster their rotation for the playoffs. First broken by Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, it has been reported Verlander was traded for prospects Jake Rodgers, Daz Cameron, and Franklin Perez. The Tigers are expected to kick in an additional $10M of the $56M remaining of the next 2 years of Verlander's existing contract.
Franklin Perez is the main prospect coming back to the Tigers, previously ranked #3 in the Astros system. The 19 year old from Venezuela who was recently promoted to the Astros AA Corpus-Christi affiliate has a fastball that can touch 96mph also has a plus curveball and developing slider.
For the Astros, their playoff rotation has now been strengthened considerably. After remaining quiet at the 7/31 trade deadline, Houston is hoping this will revitalize the team given the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey had on the area. The Astros can now trot out a playoff rotation of Dallas Keuchel, Verlander, Lance McCullers Jr. (returning from the disabled list next week) and Colin Mchugh in a series.
Will it be enough to get past Cleveland, Boston, or New York is the question. Feel free to comment what you think the impact will be for the playoffs.
@jakesoares Excellent write up brother! I like how you break it down. Big move for Houston. They also landed Cameron Maybin last night from LAA. Keep up the good work, I look forward to more posts from you just like this.
Thanks @sportsncoffee will do!
Very nicely done my friend. Be interesting to see if the Astros rally similarly to the New York Yankees going to game 7 in the world series or the New Orleans Saints in there first game in the Super dome following Hurricane Katrina. Lots of teams have rallied for their cities during distress and now adding Verlander, Houston could be poised to do the same. Nice write up, I'll be following for more as I tend to write about sports as well but prefer the NBA.
Thanks for the feedback @sixersfeds! I will be sure to check out your blogs as well.