The New York Mets continued their fire sale on Tuesday, trading pitcher Justin Verlander to his previous team, the Houston Astros. The Astros reacquired last year’s American League Cy Young Award winner by parting with two of their top prospects, including Drew Gilbert.
While it wasn’t shocking that the Mets would deal Verlander, given that they’d already shipped off Max Scherzer, David Robertson, and Mark Canha in recent days, it’s always a bit of a surprise at the moment when this kind of news breaks.
That goes double if you’re the player’s brother and you happen to recording a live podcast when that news breaks.
That’s what happened to Ben Verlander on Tuesday. He got the news about Justin’s trade during an interview with Cincinnati Reds shortstop Matt McLain for his Flippin’ Bats podcast.
“Wait, they just told me Justin just got traded to the Astros. Wow. Wow. Yeah, there it is. He’s going back. Wow,” Ben said.
https://twitter.com/FlippinBatsPod/status/1686450373920436224
Three-time Cy Young winner Verlander signed with the Mets this offseason following four and a half seasons in Houston in which he helped the Astros win two World Series. Despite the high hopes around New York heading into the 2023 MLB season, it’s been a disappointing run that appears to be heading toward another rebuild.
The good news for the Verlanders is that, no matter how the trade pans out, at least it helped create some content!
https://twitter.com/FlippinBatsPod/status/1686478910656217088
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.