Would Detroit Tigers consider trading Justin Verlander at the deadline?
By Matt Snyder
National baseball writer Jon Heyman includes Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander as a player who could hit the trade block this summer.
The Detroit Tigers will have a decision to make this summer as the July 31 trade deadline begins to draw near. Will they hold course and pray that a postseason run develops or will they sell off assets and build their prospect base in hopes for a better tomorrow?
National baseball writer Jon Heyman took an early look at the trade deadline and listed 70 players who could hit the block this summer. The second player he lists is the Tigers’ Justin Verlander.
"With $76 million to go through 2019 (about half what’s owed Greinke, though one rival points out the Tigers have shown no indication to pay it down). The Dodgers were the main team that showed interest in the winter. But the Tigers are seen as not too likely to sell, especially with no one running away with things in the AL Central. “I think they go for it to honor Mr. Ilitch, and besides that, he’s a likely Hall of Famer, which makes him a tough guy to trade,” one rival says."
Heyman also included the more obvious J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler, but the Verlander question presents an interesting dilemma. Suppose the Tigers fell out of the race far enough that they became definite sellers at the deadline. Now suppose they found a team willing to agree on a prospect and financial package that would make sense for both sides.
Could the Tigers pull the trigger? As the executive quoted above points out, Verlander’s career is on a Hall of Fame trajectory and we at Detroit Jock City already include him as one of the best Tigers starting pitchers of all time. How much value does his legendary status bring to the franchise? Those are questions that are hard to answer in terms of prospects and payroll flexibility.
Verlander has 10-and-5 rights (at least 10 years in the league and at least five years with the current club) which grants him the right to veto any trade. So any possible move will be up to Verlander as much as it is to the Tigers.
As Heyman reminds us, the Dodgers were rumored to be involved in trade discussions surrounding Verlander this past offseason. As a fan it’s hard to imagine Verlander in any other uniform other than the Tigers, but it’s also not a stretch to envision a high-profile couple like Verlander and fiancee Kate Upton enjoying the L.A. lifestyle.
From a strictly baseball perspective, it would make sense for the Tigers to get out from under the full burden of his contract while netting a prospect or two in return (again, assuming they’ve declared themselves out of the race), but it’s impossible to separate the reactions of the head and the heart in a case like this.
Next: Detroit Tigers 2000s All-Decade Team
Verlander has struggled a bit on the mound to begin the 2017 season. He’s accumulated a 4.39 ERA in 55 innings pitched with a strikeout rate just under a batter per inning.