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.
The moment @BenVerlander found out his brother Justin Verlander was getting traded back to the Astros 👀 (while interviewing Matt McLain 😅) @MLBONFOX pic.twitter.com/bfj236Fvcp
— Flippin' Bats Podcast (@FlippinBatsPod) August 1, 2023
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!
"This is a fire sale for the New York Mets." 🔥 @BenVerlander
Emergency pod reacting to Justin Verlander to the Astros ➡️ https://t.co/G8s7ujFULt pic.twitter.com/tSrC7VJlaw
— Flippin' Bats Podcast (@FlippinBatsPod) August 1, 2023
