Justin Verlander’s last-minute decision to accept a trade to Houston swung the MLB season, and now he’s opening up about just how close a call it was.
Verlander recently told Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports that the damage done to the city of Houston by Hurricane Harvey gave him pause about going there.
Per Heyman:
Verlander loved being a Tiger, reportedly most preferred the Dodgers (where he has a home in the Beverly Hills area with [wife Kate] Upton) or Chicago if he was going to be traded, and didn’t know much about Houston, except what he had seen on TV following Hurricane Harvey. The hurricane damage, Verlander said, was about the “third question” regarding Houston. But ultimately, he wants to win. So he made the right call, at the very end.
It definitely did turn out to be the right call, as Verlander was lights out for the Astros over the final two months of the 2017 campaign. He proved to be their best pitcher down the stretch of the postseason, which resulted in a World Series victory for Houston. The move to the Astros has also helped Verlander in other regards as well, so he has to be feeling pretty validated right now.
