"The hard part was uprooting my family" - When Justin Verlander opened up about Astros trade after 13 seasons in Detroit
A decade ago, the Detroit Tigers had a Hall of Fame pitching rotation, including the likes of multi-Cy Young Awardees Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. However, the team could not win the World Series and eventually decided to rebuild, trading their pitchers for future assets.
On August 31, 2017, just in time ahead of the waiver trade deadline, the Tigers traded Verlander to the Houston Astros for prospects Franklin Pérez, Jake Rogers, and Daz Cameron. Verlander, who had established his home in Detroit, was taken aback by this and spoke about it in an interview in May 2023.
"I think people, very easily, you know, tend to forget it's not just a baseball decision. You know, I had 12 or 13 years of my life invested in the city and town. And, you know, this was my home. You know, that's more than a baseball decision," Verlander said (via Detroit Free Press).
"I thought it was fairly easy. I mean, the writing was on the wall. You know, going from a team that was going in one direction to wanting to go in a different one. And, you know, had World Series aspirations. So that wasn't the hard part; the hard part was uprooting my family."
Reports also suggested that Verlander pleaded his case to the Tigers' front office at the time and requested that they keep the roster intact.
Justin Verlander is behind the Training timeline
According to a report by ESPN, Justin Verlander is suffering from a shoulder issue, rendering him behind the spring training deadline. Due to this, there are chances he may not be available for the season opener, which is six weeks away.
"I'm a little bit behind schedule right now," Justin Verlander said on Wednesday post training. "I had a little hiccup early on that's resolved itself, but I have to be really cautious with how I'm building up."
"I've always liked to give myself as much rest as possible, so my timeline is always a little tight," he said. "I think that rest is important, so with the tight timeline and having to slow things down a little bit, put me a little behind."
However, Astros general manager Dana Brown wasn't too concerned about it and feels that it's just soreness that comes with throwing after a long time.
"Some of these guys, when they ramp up, they feel some soreness. I think he's going to be fine. I'm not concerned at all," Brown said.