Detroit Tigers: Justin Verlander’s deal is in limbo with lockout underway

This may sound a little farfetched, but there is a chance that the Detroit Tigers may not have missed out on Justin Verlander quite yet. If the team really wanted to bring him home to Detroit, it would take some money to top the Astros, but he may not be off the market quite yet.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. He already signed, the Houston Astros scooped him up to a one-year, $25 million contract with a player option for the 2023 season at $25 million apiece as well. I mean, MLB dot com even released a post about Verlander returning to the Astros.

Not so fast. The deal is not official. Jon Heyman tweeted this out soon after the lockout began late last night.

It’s a little out there to suggest. But there is certainly some concern that the deal reported in mid-November was still not made official. As Heyman mentions, since the two sides did not confirm and make the deal official, they will have to wait until the lockout concludes.

While this lockout could take a week or a month or push the season back with a six-month stoppage, there is no telling. The only thing that is clear is that the two sides seem to be far apart but are at least trying to work together to get somewhere.

That being said, Verlander’s deal was not locked in and/or confirmed, meaning he still may be there when the work stoppage ends.

The Detroit Tigers may have a chance for a last-ditch effort at Justin Verlander.

While it is very likely that Verlander will finalize his deal and head back to Houston when the stoppage ends, it sure is intriguing that the two sides waited two weeks to complete the deal and must wait longer due to the lockout that went into place.

On top of the fact that it is unlikely. The Tigers have signed Eduardo Rodriguez to a five-year contract, leaving just one spot left in their rotation to be filled for the 2022 season. While this may not need to be a spot that has $25+ million spent on it to bring back Verlander, the organization may be keen to bring him home.

Time will tell what is going to happen. Granted, there are likely going to be many other storylines that pop up as a result of the work stoppage, but this is one that fans should keep an eye on.

It seemed like the Tigers missed out on their chance to bring Verlander back to Detroit, but now it seems there may just be a chance.