TODAY: Verlander and the Mets spoke together in a Zoom meeting last week, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
NOVEMBER 19: The Mets are hopeful of re-signing Jacob deGrom, but if they fail in that pursuit, reigning AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander has emerged as a “prominent possibility” for the team, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Puma cites a source that confirms the Mets are indeed considering the former Astros ace.
deGrom is still every chance to stay in New York of course, and the Mets already believe they are his preferred team, but it certainly shows the Mets’ intention to again be active at the top of the starting pitching market, be that deGrom or not.
Verlander, 39, showed no signs of age in 2022, making one of the more remarkable returns from Tommy John surgery to toss 175 innings of 1.75 ERA ball for Houston, win the Cy Young award and take home a World Series ring. Though his strikeout rate dipped below 30% for the first time since joining Houston (down to 27.85), his fastball velocity remained in tact (and actually improved on his last full season), and he accounted for the dip in strikeouts by posting the equal-best walk rate of his lengthy career (4.4%).
It’s a stunning turnaround for a pitcher that threw just six innings between 2020-21, and sets himself up nicely to add to his already illustrious career. He’s already got three Cy Young awards, one MVP, two World Series titles and is now 56 wins away from the 300-win milestone. That last one may seem like a stretch, but Verlander has averaged 18.33 wins a season over his last three full seasons, so it’s certainly not out of the question if he bags a three-year deal. It’s likely Verlander will seek deals from teams that give him the best chance to win, and a return to the Astros remains a strong possibility, while teams such as the Yankees, Dodgers and Phillies could join the Mets in the race for his signature.
It speaks to the quality of Verlander’s output even as he’s aged that MLBTR recently predicted he’d take home a three-year, $120MM deal, even though he’ll turn 40 in February. While the performance remains elite, the thought of paying a pitcher $40MM into his age-42 season must give some owner’s pause though. Instead, perhaps the Mets might bump up Verlander’s AAV beyond the $43.3MM record that Max Scherzer takes home, and keep it to a more manageable two-year deal.
In any event, it shows the Mets are set to be aggressive in adding a frontline starter to partner Scherzer in 2023. Of course, deGrom and Verlander aren’t the only options either, and the Mets could be in on Carlos Rodon and Kodai Senga as well to bolster their light rotation stocks. Currently Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco are slated to start 2023, while David Peterson and Tylor Megill could also have roles at the back of the rotation, depending on how New York’s off-season unfolds.
Wow. As a Met fan I’m floored that I’m reading this
Nobody really knows the $ ceiling on Cohen. We can speculate, but no one knows for sure. This off-season could be wild
#LFGM
Mets need younger pitchers, not older. Not sure this would be the move to make if DeGrom walks.
Normally I’d agree, but this older pitcher just beat every single younger pitching in pitching this year, and it wasn’t an aberration for him to pitch that well. He’s a unique older pitcher, brother.
True. But how much is left in the tank? Then again, DeGrom’s tank seems to be rather leaky
And he came back from Tommy John surgery while doing so? Uhhh Cliff Lee opted to not have the surgery a few years younger and retire because it doesn’t favor older pitchers? Verlander is indeed very unique?
@clipper – he’s unique, but I’d hate to be on the wrong side of that contract when his arm expires. They already have Scherzer to deal with and not sure what other arms they’re looking at.
I agree with you there. I know for sure if the Yankees signed him he would be injured for 80% and probably revert back to a 5+ ERA in his postseason starts because, well, that’s just how it is for the Yankees.
That’s funny!
Yes, a first ballot HOF pitcher, who just won the Cy Young, as Casey used to say, you never have enough pitching.
The Braves have most of their young star players signed to contracts, AA seems to have the best model. The problem is that most teams don’t have the great young players they have.
No thanks on Verlander. He missed the two previous seasons with injury, theres no way a contract longer than a year will end well. Would rather trade for Beiber and then extend him
I don’t think Bieber will be available, unless the Guardians fall out of it early.
@rememberthecoop And in that division, falling out of it early probably means July, at the soonest.
What would it take to get the Beebs for 2 seasons? Allan and Alvarez, probably—for starters. He’s put together the first quarter of a HOF career. Maybe you make the deal conditional on be able to extend him.
I’d be careful, in any case. The Guardians have the uncanny gift of dealing brilliant pitchers just before they collapse.
He didn’t really miss 2 full seasons. 2020 short season he had the Tommy John surgery in late September. Missed all of 2021 in recovery. Comes back even better than ever. Lets not act like JV has ever been injury prone
Yup. From 2006-2019 JV averaged 212 innings a year, plus the postseason. 30+ starts a year except for 2015, when he still made 20 starts. Trails only Randy and Roger in Cy Young career shares. All-time leader in WHIP. Just tied his career best in HR suppression. In the last 3 seasons he pitched more than 6 innings he finished 2nd, 1st, and 1st for the Cy. Just set a career high for ERA+, his ERA compared to the league and adjusted for park and competition. Ridiculously good, still, in every aspect.
Let’s not act like JV drank from the fountain of youth either. All these people saying give him 3 years will be the same people that will say it’s a terrible contract that the team should have never gave out if it turns out poorly.
Truest statement ever.
What is surprising to me about Verlander success at such an age is the fact he just came off TJS? A procedure that favors young pitchers, not older ones… Cliff Lee retired at 36 because he didn’t believe the procedure would be successful at his age? Thi k he tore it a few years prior and rode out the rest of his contract in Philly? Verlander is crazy, but not the guy I want pitching in the world series at all?
Medicine keeps making advances. Also chronological age vs biological age.
Why is everything phrased as a question?
There’s absolutely ZERO chance JV leaves Texas. If the Astros don’t break the bank, the Rangers will.
Should be noted – NYM FA under Cohen have been consistent in not leaking. So take into account the 50 NY metro beat writers (in like 6-7 different languages!) are desperate for clickbait crumbs. This Puma “lead” could well come from the Citi Field Shake Shack janitor
Cohen has his own writers, he bought them all!
I’m considering Salma Hayek.
Haven’t seen her lately but I don’t think anyone could criticize that move either way.
Her husband is worth $7 billion. He could buy her the Miami Marlins and pretty much match Cohen in spending, who is worth about $9 billion.
Cohen’s net worth is $17.4 billion. Last year, the next richest owner has a net worth of around $4 billion.
François-Henri Pinault is worth about $37 billion. He already owns a Ligue 1 futbol team in France, so he is already involved in sports.
My wife spends so much on Kering brand luxury items that I should be considered a stockholder.
No offense, but come on Simon, you need to proofread your work. “deGrom is still every chance to stay in New York…”, especially given it’s the leading sentence of the second paragraph. This is only effort, that’s all, it doesn’t take any special skill.
you mean you’re not supposed to put a ? at the end of every sentence? Shocking? That’s what it is, absolutely shocking?
Cry about it.
Jays need to seriously be Pursuing Verlander and deGrom
Verlander @ 44.5 aav 2 years. Player option @ something reasonable
Degrom, @ whatever he wants. He’s that good.
44.5 for two years for a guy above 40 and “something reasonable” really don’t belong in the same sentence
These are the types of people I have to listen to on the fan590. Fans think the only way to win is pay the most expensive and well known free agent every year. Sign everyone lol.
Exactly.
Iver… who else is out there???
2 years and u think it’s bad???
80 million is a months profit for Rogers
Take your negative Nancy BS, im so woke BS, I know better that’s why im a GM. Dumb take plus thumbs up me BS Fake pu55y nonsense to a Yankees thread
How many 40 year old players have won the Cy Young? How many have had a sub 2.00 ERA?
Headline should read “Mets considering everyone”
Headline should read “Everyone considering everyone “
Bill M has it figured out!
How about a 40 million pro rated contract based on the number of starts made? 25 million guaranteed with the other 15 to be earned after meeting certain thresholds? Relievers sign these types of appearance deals all the time.
Good idea, I’m his agent in this scenario. No we aren’t taking that my client has multiple 2 year offers for 80 plus million.
Fkn 2 faced Iver.
Literally commented on a post I Saud pay him 80 million 2 years
He’s like… fkn idiots, I listen to this all day on the radio cause I’m a shut in pleb
Then basically comments. Yea no team will do that, it’ll take 80 million
You’re such an attention w**re
Wish social credit existed here like it does in China. So many fkn 2 faced 50/50 attention seeking fools here
Bud, you’re taking sports chat way too seriously. Have a drink.
I figure it will take an AAV of $45M ( slightly more than Scherzer) to get JV. He might give the Astros a discount down to $40M due to no state tax in Texas but that’s as low as he’ll go. Probably a 2 year deal will get it done but I’m sure he’s asking for 3. Great pitcher and has done well in the postseason except during World Series games.
My prediction is that JV will say, just give me whatever Max got last time (roughly $43 million per year for three years)
I agree with the AAV. I think he might go for 2 years plus a vesting option.
I wonder if JV would consider something like the Yankees just gave Rizzo…a two-year with third year option and $40M per year, but a buyout of, say, $8M-$10M for the third, that essentially raises the first two years to $44-$45M should the team buyout occur.
I think that’s a very reasonable proposal. Would not be surprised if the final deal he signs is something along those lines.
No state income tax in Washington either. Or Florida where he lives. The Mariners? The Marlins? Do you REALLY think that players that make $30 million a year don’t have small armies of tax attorneys to make sure they keep their money regardless of where they play?
Verlander wound he my first choice here. He’s just more reliable.
That said I’d love to get him out of the AL West.
You are right, the rest of the Astros pitching is much more manageable for opposing teams lol
Going to be the Mets only choice after DeGrom signs with the Angels. Arte won’t do long term deals with pitchers, but he has no problem with spending money. 3/132 and DeGrom is an Angel. Since its short term it would not impact the sale of the team either. Can you imagine a rotation with DeGrom and Ohtani at the top?
Time for the new Met’s owner to move on from Jacob. It’s just not worth keeping him. He don’t pitch enough. 95 million for 16-8 since 2020, no way. He’d be great if he could stay on the field.
Try using IP instead of the useless wins loss record of a SP.
ESPECIALLY deGrom …how many low-scoring, no-run support losses did he take over the years? It’s amazin’ how many pitiful “losses” he suffered when he was, arguably, THE best pitcher in baseball
Whoever signs Verlander is going to regret it.
How do you comeback from TJS in your late 30s, still throw gas and win a Cy Young? Father Time is undefeated. He’s got to be on something and with him being on Houston and getting a coincidental resurgence, can we really be surprised? Unless he will be consistently taking whatever test-beating PEDs he was on, it’s going to be a dead contract.
Oh I forgot. MLB stopped steroid testing December 1st, 2021. Good luck in getting value for your contracts. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are hoping Franklin Perez will throw an inning this year and Jake Rogers can push his BA above .188.
Mets / Padres considering [insert player name here]
Thank you for kindly summing up the majority of the next week or so’s articles on here. Lol
I don’t care who you root for, this is great:
twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1593744269663260677
This team is cursed by the ghost of Michael Conforto
I will live stream me eating a shoe if this happens, not in a million years.
What kind of shoe?
Y’all can pick the shoe brand
How about the The Reebok Shaq Attaq ‘OG’ in Shaq’s size. That would be size 22.
sportscasting.com/shaquille-oneal-feet-so-big-he-p…
I’ll be back if this happens you better eat a shoe or u owe me 25k
Rodon & Bassitt – two for the price of one.
Good!
Given how desperately the 2023 Mets will need certainty from pitching, Verlander is a much better bet than deGrom to give at least 160 innings at a high level, and a much better bet to also be on the roster and effective throughout October.
The Mets can’t catch the Braves, so unlike the Braves, who need to focus what discretion they have this offseason on setting up to beat three very good to great teams in thee rounds of the postseason, the Mets need to broadly assume that with a $300m payroll and respectable talent already on hand, they’ll be one of the #4, 5, or 6 seeds in the postseason and therfore figure out how to build a team capable of winning 4 rounds of the postseason rather than winning, say 98 games rather than something like 92.
That means focusing on getting three more superb relievers, and two more starters capable of winning in the postseason. It also means planning on getting Scherzer and an old pitcher like Verlander at least a month off during the season, since neither is going to give you 180-200 innings during the year then another four rounds of starts in October.
—Fwiw, speaking of a hypothetically healthy deGrom the difference between an ERA of 2.00 versus 1.50 is significantly less than the difference between an ERA of 3.00 versus 2.50 when it comes to affecting the outcome of games, particularly in the contexts of the difference in salaries and of having a good offense largely on hand, as they do . Do the Mets know this? In addition, if they sign deGrom, are they prepared to do without him or sit him for either two months of the season, or lose him for the entirety of the postseason? For any of Scherzer, Verlander, and deGrom, they also have to consider treating any or all of them as ‘Sunday pitchers’ for much of the year in order to limit their innings and keep them available for October. Doing that alters everything else they need to do this offseason.
If the Mets land both deGrom & Verlander wondering whether they should go into a 6-man rotation or not. Gives more rest for the three geriatric aces. But then you need even more depth.
@ignorant-Son-of-a-b Wow! Almost certainly a 6-man, in that case. They’ve got Megill, Peterson, and Carrasco, who are good enough to keep them in games, albeit at most at 5 innings a start and for probably no more than 300 innings, combined, as starters as each of those three have lacked durability, with only 1 season between them of more than 105 MLB innings since 2018.
You’d probably love to add a good starter to that mix, comparable to Bassitt (but not Bassitt) plus a Trevor Williams-caliber swingman.
$350m payroll, here we come!
The Mets already caught the Braves. Both had 101 wins in 2022.
He’ll never make it in New York. We tear his kind apart
Scherzer, deGrom, and Verlander, you can’t lose can you?
The only thing missing from that rotation is Satchel Paige. For the change of pace, you know.
I’m pretty sure he would be fully committed to pitch to soft contact and, at 116, he would probably appreciate this new-fangled DH thing, too.
Oil can Boyd as thr 5th to stretch out the rotation
So the fanbase would be good with signing not one, but two aging arms with durability issues. Seems pretty smart to me. Everyone knows pitchers get healthier as they get older, just like Scherzer has proven to be.
Jays fans say Hi
So the fanbase thinks it wise to sign not one, but two aging arms with durability issues. Why not? Everyone knows pitchers get healthier as they get older, just as Scherzer has proven.
Few think that, but messing around with the idea is its own special fun.
I think, combined, you’d probably average 55 superb starts in 2023 from the 3, probably worth in the neighborhood of 11-12 WAR. Not worth the $135m you might be paying just for 2023, and not worth the price you’re all too likely to pay for the years after 2023 you committed to.
Still, fun to mull over.
But is JV interested being a met?
When it comes to age, I think a lot of fans aren’t really keeping up with the advances being made in understanding health and aging. We’re seeing more and more players, especially the intelligent ones, performing at or exceeding league average levels as they approach 40 because they have access to the best trainers and nutritionists and are understanding the importance of exercises like yoga in their routines. I wouldn’t be surprised if Verlander performs at the same level for the next two or three seasons. It’s not the 1970’s anymore…
@vtbaseball Well said.
How the Giants resurrected several careers to win 107 in 2021 was wild. Now we’ve got “platelet-rich injections to speed injury recovery” along with dozens of other recent treatments, not to mention the application of high tech to read torque on every cc of a pitcher’s arm, and ever improving, real time fMRIs….
That medical tech and treatments would be so useful to the 8,000,000,000 of us not in pro sports I’m tempted to suggest legalizing all PEDs as long as the information is made available publicly.
“Consider this”…..
Sounds like a twighlight zone…….
Verlander wouldn’t ruin his brand. If he goes to New York he will wear pinstripes in the Bronx. He doesn’t need to be second best in New York. Plus Cole admires him and will take second to Verlander. Max wont
You mean like he did in Detroit? Has Max’s ego changed so much?
Wouldn’t ruin his brand by going to the Mets? If Cohen offers the most money, JV will take it. Really pretty simple.
Going all in on the old aces.
Bring back RA Dickey
Why would any player that wants to win titles go to the Mets? The Mets could spend $400M this year and they still won’t win they’re the Mets and the Mets do one thing better than every other team, they choke. Mets will always Met.
@Mystery Team Going cheap and inept at the 2022 Deadline was as Mets a Mets thing to do as their GM falling asleep, drunk, at a stop sign after leaving the team owner’s bash, then firing him, then learning a judge didn’t believe a reasonable person could have concluded he was drunk and finding him not guilty… or their GM having sexted reporters… or…
To give deGrom $45 mil for 3-4 years will be a mistake, he can’t stay healthy plus after the 4th inn he looks like he slows down, and to give Verlander (Scherzers) type money, I’d rather sign both Rodon and Senga combined for that. They can still have a good rotation with Scherzer,Rodon,Senga,Carrasco and Peterson . If Scott Boras is asking for $20-$25 a year for Nimmo let him go too, the Mets should sign Bellinger to play CF if not sign Conforto and shift Marte, than sign either Voit or Josh Bell to DH.
Are they playing to make the payoffs or win the series? Was it the starting pitching or lack of power for the dh? Resign bassist and sign Rondon. Then upgrade the dh with power. Look to improve some position players. If you can’t that is why you have a trade deadline.
Lack of a dh and a terrible trade deadline did the Mets in.
Verlander is a more reliable Jacob DeGrom. With that will come with a much higher salary. JV stayed pretty much healthy his entire career until his Tommy John surgery in 2020. His only other time off was having core muscle surgery while with Detroit in 2015 I think it was. DeGrom is a Mets icon and I can understand if they prefer him over JV. I know Tigers fans would love for him to go back but not at $40 million+ a year. I know Astros fans want him to go back to Houston as well. I don’t think he’ll sign with the Mets anyway. If he’ll go to NY it would be to the Yankees. So I think he’ll either stay in Houston or sign with the Dodgers, Yankees or Phillies.
He has rebuffed the Yankees year after year but sure their the favorites.
@ActionDan You’re not the Action Dan that has written a few books on cards, are you?
Might as well get Greinke too. Make it 4 HOFs.
The Mets need a CF.
Verlander should sign with Detroit. Detroit should trade him for prospects after making some sales……
Harris and Illich need to hire me. Obviously, I know what I am doing and they….haven’t a clue…….
The Tigers had a Rotation of: Verlander, Scherzer, Price, Porcello, Anibal Sanchez,
Drew Smiley(switched to the bullpen in the playoffs) and Robbie Ray (just getting his feet wet) at one point in their last run of contention.
It does not guarantee any team a Championship.
A lot has to go right on the entire team to win that World Series Trophy!
Some luck involved too!
A few of those Tigers teams blew right through the playoffs, had long layoffs waiting for the NL to settle its playoffs and came out with cold bats for the World Series.
So, go figure!
There’s probably at least 10 years considering JV.
if it was a Zoom call, you know it’s real
2 year 100 sounds about right.
That sounds like massive overpay. Maybe 2/88. Still overpay by a lot but he’ll get more aav than Scherzer.
Verlander coming back to the Astros on a team friendly gives him the best shot at 300 wins, its a relative certainty he gets the milestone, as he appears to have more than enough in the tank, but hard to break up a good thing going for a bigger payday when your already making 25M AAV
This will be JVs last contract of his career. He is getting into the HOF regardless of getting to 300. No one is getting a team friendly deal.
After the Angels sign DeGrom, who are the Mets and Yankees going to turn to as their second choice?
This owner would be dumb enough to pay verlander what he wants. I’d offer him 20-25 for 1 year. That is where all the smart teams are. Houston is probably 2 for 40 because they’re nice and feeling generous. This mets owner is bidding against himself lol
I don’t see him taking a one year contract