Last week, the Mets had two future Hall-of-Famers within their starting rotation. After Tuesday, they had none after trading Justin Verlander back to the Houston Astros after just a half-season in Queens, per multiple reports.
In return, the Mets are getting back a pair of outfielders in Houston’s No. 1 prospect, Drew Gilbert, and their No. 4 prospect Ryan Clifford in the deal. As Mets owner Steve Cohen has done in previous deals, he’s reportedly taking on roughly $52.5 million of Verlander’s remaining contract to maximize the return from Houston. That figure is dependent on whether or not he pitches at least 140 innings next year for Houston to trigger his 2025 option.
The 22-year-old Gilbert was a first-round pick at last year’s draft and is currently in Double-A, slashing .241/.342/.371 (.713 OPS) with six home runs, and 20 RBI in 60 games.
He was promoted to Double-A earlier this season after a torrid 20-game stretch in Single-A where he batted .360 with a 1.107 OPS, six home runs, and 18 RBI. Gilbert is the only Astros prospect ranked in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 (No. 68).
Clifford, 20, is a left-handed bat that has posted a .919 OPS with 18 home runs and 61 RBI across 83 games between Low-A and High-A ball.
The Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Baltimore Orioles were considered the three favorites for Verlander heading toward the deadline with the latter two possessing far deeper farm systems to provide a better trade package.
The Mets and Astros had made progress on a deal Monday night but hit an initial roadblock created by what Houston had with its thin farm system to give back to New York (h/t MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand). But Verlander’s full no-trade clause helped dictate what general manager Billy Eppler had to work with.
The 40-year-old righty signed a two-year, $86.6 million deal with a full no-trade clause over the winter with the Mets after a 2022 Cy Young Award and World Series title with the Astros in hopes of providing a feared one-two punch alongside Max Scherzer.
But while Verlander overcame a shoulder injury to find his old self, posting a 1.95 ERA over his last nine starts, Scherer and the Mets never found their form. Entering Tuesday night’s series opener against the Kanas City Royals, New York was 17.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and six games back of the final Wild Card spot.
The shockingly disappointing four months prompted owner Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler to trade away David Robertson to the Miami Marlins before sending Scherzer, whose ERA was over 4.00 while leading the league with 23 home runs allowed, to the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
With it came Verlander’s stance of not waiving his no-trade clause to change.
“I think Max is a tough sign if we’re trying to go back at it,” Verlander said on Sunday after the Scherer deal became official. “I’m committed to trying to win a championship here but if the organization decides that’s not exactly the direction that they think is best fit to go for next year, then yeah, I would be more open to it.”
In 16 starts during his brief Mets career, Verlander was 6-5 with a 3.15 ERA, a 1.145 WHIP, and 81 strikeouts in 94.1 innings pitched.
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