Justin Verlander is as surprised as anybody.
To be back with the Astros.
To see the Mets’ fire sale.
That the team he signed with was such a flop it shipped out the three-time Cy Young award winner, fellow future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and several others.
This wasn’t what Verlander — or really anyone else in the baseball world — envisioned when he signed a two-year, $86.7 million contract in early December.
“If you could rewind the clock four or five months, I think the Mets had the [sixth]-best odds to win the World Series before the season started,” he said Thursday in his first public comments since the blockbuster trade was finalized. “It wasn’t just a contractual thing, even though that obviously plays a part in it. It was something we looked at and said all right, let’s go try to win another championship.”
They didn’t come close.
The Mets were one of the big sellers at the trade deadline, sending Scherzer to the Rangers, Verlander to the Astros, David Robertson to the Marlins, Tommy Pham to the Diamondbacks and Eduardo Escobar and Dominic Leone to the Angels.
After getting swept by the last-place Royals, the Mets are a whopping 20 games behind the Braves in the NL East and eight games under .500 at 50-58.
It was hardly Verlander’s fault.
In 16 starts, he compiled a 3.15 ERA in 94 ¹/₃ innings and struck out 81.
The Mets went 8-8 in his outings, but won five of the last six.
“We kind of got off on the wrong foot. Everything that could go wrong did early,” said Verlander, who noted that his absence for the first month of the season due to a low-grade teres major strain didn’t help matters. “Even though we started playing some good baseball at times, we never really hit our stride where we were kind of banging on all cylinders. I can’t answer exactly why that is.”
It has worked out for Verlander, who is back with Houston where he helped the Astros win World Series crowns in 2017 and 2022.
With a no-trade clause in his contract, Verlander had the option to veto any deal.
The Astros were No. 1 on his list, but the Mets never presented him with any other options.
In the lead-up to the trade deadline, Verlander met with general manager Billy Eppler and owner Steve Cohen, and echoed what has been said in terms of the Mets’ new direction, as it was relayed to him.
They aren’t going to be all-in next year, as they focus more on 2025 and 2026.
“The direction I was told for next year was it wasn’t going to be the exact same M.O. as this season, which was to fill every gap that you need with a free agent,” said the 40-year-old Verlander, who will make his first start with his team Saturday against the Yankees in The Bronx. “That didn’t work out, so why double down on that strategy?”
Even though his time in New York only lasted just over half of a season, Verlander said he did enjoy his stint with the Mets.
If anything, the Mets moving veterans like himself to winners should only help them down the road when it comes to free agency.
According to Verlander, they were transparent and honest.
“I don’t see how it could hurt them. It was just an unfortunate season where things didn’t go according to plan,” Verlander said. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for their organization and how they treat players. A-plus from top to bottom. Anybody that would ask me about that organization, if they had a decision to make, I would recommend their organization. Just because it didn’t work out on the field this year doesn’t mean that it won’t work out in the future.”