The Houston Astros are prepared to reclaim the AL West after getting back together.
Regaining Justin Verlander and having two important players return from injury were the highlights of the Astros trade deadline.
NEW YORK The 39-year-old Justin Verlander, who is expected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, won his first World Series on November 3, 2022. A persistent oddity in his otherwise illustrious career was that it took till then. Verlander toiled through five traffic-heavy innings in the penultimate start of his third Cy Young Award-winning season against a Philadelphia Phillies team that had captivated the nation with an infectious hot streak that took them from barely making the postseason to a two-game tie against the big, bad Houston Astros in the World Series.
However, Verlander’s performance was sufficient to give the Astros a lead in the series, and two days later, he and Houston captured their second championship in as many seasons.
It appeared to be the likely last of his Houston days. Since Verlander rejected his contract’s player option, he became a free agent. The Astros are renowned for their moral leadership, which forbids most frivolous spending. Verlander’s mother thanked manager Dusty Baker for allowing him to play in Game 5 long enough to complete that glaringly absent career accomplishment during the festivities that would also serve as a sendoff.
Nine months to the day after that World Series start, Verlander walked into the visiting team clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, where the Astros were opening a weekend series in the Bronx. On Monday, Verlander and the rest of the 2022 World Series champions will go to the White House to be honored. The Astros had a tough time scheduling the trip, which is how it ended up being this late — between a series in New York and one in Baltimore.
If it had been any earlier, Verlander couldn’t have attended. Between winning the World Series with the Astros in November and starting for them Saturday night, he signed with the New York Mets on a record-setting contract.
But when the Mets’ stunning failure this season, despite a staggering payroll, forced the team to tear down at the deadline, Verlander was able to reunite with an Astros team that is starting to look a whole lot like the one that won the World Series less than a year ago.
“It’s exciting seeing all the guys again,” Verlander told reporters Thursday. “It feels a little weird because it hasn’t been that long, so it feels like you don’t miss a beat, and you’re right back in the locker room. But on the other hand, there’s this whole segment that happened. So here I am, still staying in my apartment in New York. It’s a really odd feeling.”
