1:40pm: The Padres are out on Verlander at this point, tweets SNY’s Andy Martino. The Giants, who briefly threw their hat into the ring, have also backed out of the bidding.
11:55am: Feinsand reports that the Astros were close to a Verlander deal last night but that “things have really cooled down” today. He says the sticking point in the talks was the players going to the Mets, not the financials.
11:46am: Heyman tweets that while the Braves have been involved on Verlander, they’re not strongly in the mix at present.
11:14am: With just over six hours to go before the deadline, rumors about Justin Verlander’s future continue to swirl. The Astros, Dodgers and Orioles have all been linked to the three-time Cy Young winner. They’re not the only clubs with interest, however.
Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports (on Twitter) the Braves are also in conversations on Verlander. Meanwhile, Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets that the Padres are involved, though it’s not clear how serious San Diego’s interest is. The Friars also like Detroit southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, suggests Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (on Twitter).
Even with the revelations of Atlanta and San Diego being at least on the periphery of the Verlander market, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the previously-known trio of Houston, L.A. and Baltimore appear to be leading the market. Andy Martino of SNY and Bob Nightengale of USA Today both reiterate that Houston appears the likeliest landing spot.
Neither Atlanta nor San Diego has a strict rotation need. The Braves have some uncertainty towards the back of the staff at present, relying on recent waiver claim Yonny Chirinos to start games. Yet they’re a virtual lock to secure the NL East title and a first-round bye given their 11-game lead in the standings. Any additions at this point are geared more towards the playoffs. Max Fried will soon be back to join Spencer Strider at the top of the rotation. Bryce Elder and Charlie Morton are each playoff-caliber starters, while Kyle Wright could also factor into the plans in October.
Still, the Braves’ excellent roster at least affords them the flexibility to kick the tires on luxury buys. Verlander has an accomplished postseason track record. He’s not pitching at last year’s Cy Young level, but he carries a 3.15 ERA over 16 starts this season. It seems an open question whether the Mets would actually pull the trigger on a move to Atlanta, however. New York flipped David Robertson to Miami, so they’re not categorically opposed to intra-division trades. Yet Robertson is an impending free agent during a season in which the Mets are more or less conceding their playoff chances. Dealing Verlander, under contract for next year, to a club with which New York will ostensibly try to compete for a division title in 2024, would be a much bigger move.
San Diego seemingly checks in on every big-name player available. The Padres are reportedly targeting position player depth and bullpen help, which indeed seem like bigger concerns than the starting rotation. San Diego’s starters lead the majors with a 3.63 ERA and rank seventh with a 24% strikeout rate. With Blake Snell and Seth Lugo (by likely declining a player option) seemingly a few months from free agency, there’s an argument for the Friars looking for rotation help controllable beyond this season. That said, their reported diligence on Verlander and Rodriguez seem more like the Friars’ general approach of staying involved on any star.
Verlander is owed around $14.2MM on his record salary through season’s end. He’s due $43.333MM next year, while his contract contains a $35MM vesting/player option for 2025. The Mets would have to pay down some portion of the salary. They’re clearly amenable to doing so, though reports have suggested they value Verlander more highly than they did Max Scherzer — whose contract they paid down to $22.5MM over the next two seasons to land Luisangel Acuña from Texas.
Padres lmaaooooooo. Please trade Lesko and Zavala for him oh please please please
Not even if Mets paid 100% salary.
? Scherzer just netted Acuna. Why the Mets settle for anything less?
Rangers were desperate for sp with DeGrom going down and Eovaldi.
Padres not so much this year. Sp isn’t their issue.
Verlander will be fetching at least twice as much as did Scherzer. So if Scherzer cost 1 top 50 prospect in baseball, Verlander costs 2. That’s just math. Sorry.
44 divided by 2 is 22. So 1 top 20 prospect?
Maybe that would work . Just saying Acuna is the floor . They value Verlander more highly so people should stop throwing out packages that are worse than Acuna
Quick maths
MLB just announced he’s been traded to Houston.
Yes Braves. We need him.
AA works in silence. If a source says “Atlanta is connected “….they probably aren’t
just begging for the astros to do something.
Jesus, AJ..the Padres need bullpen pieces..NOT Verlander. If AJ wants a star, he should go after Bednar.
Lugo to the pen…. But I agree
I don’t prefer Verlander unless Mets pay substantial amount of salary and we only give a low level prospect.
He does however help rotation (theoretically) in 24 and maybe 25. For 23, it allows Lugo to go to pen – where his innings limit has him headed anyway most likely – so by adding a Verlander, the pen is addressed.
What costs less – a Verlander type or a Bednar – who I seem to recall was a Padre prospect ironically and of course Verlander was passed over in the draft by SD due to money issues!
Have the padres ever actually said they’re going to send Lugo to the pen after a certain amount of innings? He just threw 7 innings last night and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.
Apparently no one has said it out loud for a fact (but Melvin dances around it) but he has already exceeded his 22 amount by a fair amount and I think it is the highest already since 2018. I think the writing is on the wall for his own long term health.
He’s already 33, turning 34 before the end of the year, with a limited injury history – what in his profile screams out for an innings limit?
Maybe, just maybe, the desire to be as effective of a starter as he is in 23 for 3-4 more years to maybe make an additional 50-75 million dollars as opposed to risking career ending injury by defying what the professional suggest as a smart program?
Maybe the fact he’s been a reliever and never approached this many innings before.
Lugo has been pitching with a partial UCL tear for years. That’s part of the reason the Mets were reluctant to start or re-sign him.
He wasn’t passed over due to money issues they just couldn’t pass on drafting Matt Bush
My memory is that they didn’t want to commit the funds necessary to sign Verlander so they reached with Bush.
Correct!
There was no irresistible impulse against passing on Matt Bush. That was a crazy 1/1 pick all based upon a then-owner’s cheapskatery.
@FirstRoundAdiosMets
Verlander to the pen. Have a starter go 2 innings and then bring in the Verlander to shut it down from inning 3 – 9.
Old York-I actually like that deal..however..they just traded for Rich Hill instead. Ugh
AJ needs to trade his soon to be FA to replenish your farm system.
Houston will get him. Dodgers will get Eduardo from Detroit. Verlander knows Houston and he is only thing they are focused on.
Only thing is what will Houston offer and what perhaps coverage will they get from Mets as far as money. I do not thing Verlander goes to Braves or Padres or Baltimore
I hope Houston is not solely focused on JV.
Houston doesn’t have the prospects the other teams do. It depends what the Mets and Verlander want though. The best prospect the stros can offer is Drew Gilbert and he’s at least a year off. I think they’ll be absorbing more salary than the other teams to acquire.
Ridiculous for both of these teams!!!
SMH
I can see Verlander parachuting into Dodger stadium before he gets traded to the Braves unless Steve Cohen plans on selling the team right away.
Braves NO wouldn’t trade him in the same division
Padres NO their top prospects are years away, we need some that are ready
Houston OK but will cost McCormick and at least Colton Gordon
Dodgers ok for Bobby Miller or Gavin Stone and Andy Pages
Orioles ok for Kjerstad , DL Hall and Seth Johnson
the astros won’t trade mccormick lol
Gotta give to get, the Mets need players that are ready, no more 3-5 years away
Thanks. This is very clearly the first trade deadline I’ve ever watched. Where would I be without your wisdom, oh great one.
You don’t get Chas, you get Jake Meyers
Mets should love a trade with Atlanta. Peel some young, high value talent off your biggest division rival in exchange for a declining 40-year old rental who almost certainly won’t be a factor the next time you challenge for the division crown.
Mets will never challenge the Braves for the division. Braves are ran great and Mets are not. You see our roster for the next 6-10 years? Yeah good luck catching us.
“You see our roster for the next 6-10 years? Yeah good luck catching us.”
You think I’m a Mets fan?
“Mets will never challenge the Braves for the division.”
They literally did last year. You Mets haters get dumber by the day.
I am saying with the owner you have now. You know you guys should’ve resigned Bassit and Walker and probably signed a Wacha type of pitcher then spend the money you did on Verlander and Quintana. Maybe would’ve been 10 games back…
you are not getting anyone you mentioned for JV he is 40 years old making a boat load of money. One scenario is, if the Muts pay his contract all the way down for this year and next you can get one of them.
He’s not going anywhere. A deal for him involves so much cash movement that mlb would have to be notified 24 hours in advance and someone would have leaked it by now.
Padres think they have a chance after seeing Farhan continue to dumpster dive instead of significantly improving.
Giants have no elite prospects nor can you say there’s a true “impact player” on the market. Why waste assets when they can go after free agents and keep their prospects?
Why would any team take the risk? Because they are trying to win. Even the Padres haven’t given up hope and yes our prospects aren’t elite but that rarely matters as teams look at your top 5 or 10 usually and pick from those no matter where your farm is ranked. Verlander would make a huge impact for the Giants chances yet here we are 11th hour and the only trade farhan made was one of the most insignificant least impactful he could have made. Truly disappointing that he has proven year after year incapable of pulling off a blockbuster.
The Padres need under the radar moves to fill holes. not headline trades.
Why is Preller so obsessed with shiny thing? And why has ownership not realized it doesn’t work and fired him?
The funny thing is the under the radar moves have actually been some of the trades/ signings he’s won. Whenever he goes after the shiny thing or a guy on a heater he gets burned.
Hard to disagree with that given the results of shiny things like Hosmer, Clevinger, Nola & Bogaerts. I’d argue that $350m to Machado was the type of thing you regret in the morning too.
This is kind of like the old WWF days when all the evil managers were trying to recruit Randy “Macho Man” Savage, but he chose Miss Elizabeth instead. Justin Verlander will choose Kate Upton and go (or stay) wherever she wants.
I sure hope those struggling Braves get Verlander. They can really use a boost.
I highly doubt like I think there is 100% chance the metsies DONT trade JV to the braves
I think Cohen is too smart to care about in-division rivalries for short-term deals. He’s playing the long game. I can see Verlander to Atlanta if the return is right, but to your point, I think the Mets can get a better return elsewhere.
Struggling Braves? Are you watching the same thing??? Just swept the Brewers…. Delusional Muts fan.
Nothing worse then someone who can’t understand sarcasm.
Haha. Seriously. That was painfully obvious.
Braves don’t really need verlander but could use him for the playoffs.
Strider is hitting is pitching max – hasnt pitched a full year. they should get the rest of the starters back healthy.
Its the do the braves need verlander in a weak nl when they have a number of pitchers in aaa.
The braves??
Mets can’t be that stupid. Unless of course the mets get Albies/Acuna back.
(That’ll never ever happen)
You are high AF if you think you get one of them for a 40 yo. HAHAHA. Braves are the smartest team in baseball. Acuna and Albies will be a Brave for life.
Obviously sarcasm doesn’t work with you and you get triggered easily.
There is no realm or world in which the braves trade either for JV
As for them being braves for life…I’m not sure I’d you have been following the braves model. There’s a reason freeman isn’t a brave and when it’s time to pony up for acuna, let’s see If the braves have big pockets
Literally allowing Fried to reach FA PRIOR to his injury. They never wanna pony up.
They’re ran well but when it’s time to pay FA long term they don’t want to.
If the Braves sent Dodd; Schuster and Ian Anderson which would be 3 major league ready starters for Verlander with the Mets pays most of Verlander salary it could make sense both ways
If you pay all the contract sure. Anderson is coming off TJ so I doubt he is available to be honest.
Can Preller ever just acquire reasonable role players? They need a 1B/ DH type. Why are they wasting time on Verlander
Snell is a free agent at seasons end and Lugo can opt out of his player option.
Depending on how much $$$ Mets send Verlander represents insurance for 2024 and 2025
So if padres can get Verlander for less than Snell gets they at worst get a qo pick for Snell maybe lugo
Braves should get Clevinger for the back of their rotation. He’s pitching decent enough and would cost next to nothing.
I want to see the padres jump in here just for the laughs
Paul Goldschmidt rings a bell.
Stupid Padres.
San Diego has excellent SP already. They need a bat as the bottom 4 in the order is a black hole
The Padres have the best starter ERA in baseball, the best defense in baseball, the best closer in baseball, and probably three of the top ten position players in baseball (Soto, Machado, and Tatis), and are still four games below .500
AA and the Braves do not ever show their hands, so this had to be a rumor fabricated by someone else and it got momentum.
As far as JV, I’ll pass (not that I have any say in the matter, lol). To me he’s just not worth the future cost
Future cost? It all depends on how much salary you’re eating or forcing the Mets to eat.
I wasn’t talking about money, I meant the future cost of the prospects they would have to send to the Mets to get him
I think you’re right the Braves may have called to see what the Mets wanted just a general manager be normal duties but the Braves are so tight lipped could be a leak to drive the asking price up. Last year nobody had the Braves getting grossman and this off season the insiders had the Murphy trade being dead just before it was completed
Unless I see that it was said by Jeff Passan I have little faith the Braves get him.
The Padres have Weathers, or worse, starting tonight against the Rockies. A loss puts them 4 games under 500, to me that would be final nail in the coffin. They can’t be big buyers for 23. 24 and beyond, sure.
That’s why Verlander makes some sense
I think Heyman is muddying the waters because he is getting a free Kielbasa delivery until Christmas of this year
***From Cohen to drive up the price***
If Atlanta could pull off a deal for Verlander, they could essentially not have the Mets eat a ton of his salary. Just think of him as being a better version of Morton and once Morton is off the books, you apply his money towards JV. It’s not too farfetched to think ATL could get him. If anything, ATL just lacks prospects to get his price down. I’d just take his salary and see if the Mets take a lesser offer.
Braves probably made their last pitching move in getting Brad Hand and like normal nobody knew who they were trying for
Justin Verlander doesn’t deserve all this attention.
The BB world is always more interesting when Preller shows up with Seidler’s checkbook.
Astros simply don’t have the prospects to trade for the best SP on the market. Most likely what happened is the Astros said “we’ll give you any 3 minor leaguers we have” and then the Mets looked at the barren wasteland that is the Astros minor league system and said “No”
You have a weird sense of what a 40 year old making an unreal amount of money is worth.
40 year old with a no trade clause which allows him to dictate where he goes
And showman swung and missed.
“Have been involved,” does this past tense wording mean they are no longer involved?
Sounds like they are all bailing. Price is not right apparently.
JV to Astros done
I wonder what they have up
Yes, MLB TV seems sure the deal is done with the Astros
JV TO HOUSTON………….BASEBALL JUST COT REAL !!!
He will be an Astro shorty. Likely centered around Melton, unless New York throws more money or players in to get Gilbert. The Astros aren’t the Rangers.
I hope Houston didn’t give up to much
How does a reporter in NYC (Andy Martino) know what the Padres are doing
Remember when the Yankees could have had him for nothing and he was traded to Houston and haunted them for years? Some teams deserve to win and some don’t.
Prayers for Showman. He had to be rushed yo the ER to extract all the crow he is choking on.