Astros Rumors: The Justin Verlander rumors will not stop

Houston Astros fans want to move on with their lives and focus on the playoffs.

After adding Tyler Clippard and Francisco Liriano, the Astros appear to be done adding via trades. To be eligible for the postseason, a player must be on the 40-man roster before August 31st.

After the shock and disappointment on July 31st, fans have come to accept that we won’t add a big time starter this year. Jeff Luhnow joined Josh Innes on SportsTalk 790 earlier in the week and said that it was unlikely they would make another move. This was after Dallas Keuchel, and Josh Reddick expressed disappointment about the trade deadline.

In early August, Justin Verlander was placed on waivers. Some wondered if the Astros would put a claim on him and just take on the entire salary. However, the Tigers don’t seem willing just to give away their franchise icon. Not surprisingly with the salary, he cleared waivers.

There were several rumors that the Astros and Tigers were interested, but the rumored talks were cut short. While the Astros could use Verlander, he is a hard player to trade for. Jeff Luhnow is not willing to trade top talent and the Tigers want a good return to justify the trade.

It’s gotten to the point where Astros fans could be getting tired of being teased about Verlander. There were reports from Jon Heyman and others that the two teams reignited trade talks last week.  However, there is a large gap between the two teams. They have reportedly not communicated since last week.

Time to move on?

It’s over. We can finally move on from Verlander being an Astro this year. A day passed without any mention of Verlander on Friday. Time to move on. Fortunately/unfortunately, Nick Cafardo broke that streak yesterday in an article.

Cafardo says that he has heard from an MLB source that the Astros have not ruled out trading for Verlander. At the trade deadline, many teams have become super teams through trades. If Cafardo is correct, this will help the Astros beat those teams.

Until then, several barriers are preventing the trade. They vary from prospects, money, no-trade clause, and Verlander could opt-out for 2018 if he waives his no-trade clause. Jon Morosi feels that a move can be made closer to the end of August. Both sides know what the other side wants and don’t want to give up. We will see.

Verlander pitched well versus the possible World Series opponent Dodgers today.

In today’s game, Verlander had a perfect game through 5 2/3 innings. It was broken up by Curtis Granderson who hit a homer. During that at bat, Verlander was hitting 98. He would be a great addition to the Astros, but is there any chance?

Verlander pitched eight innings and got a standing ovation from the fans. He struck out nine hitters and allowed two hits. After the game, Jon Heyman said that “it feels like Justin Verlander could have helped a contender.” That was probably a shot at the Astros. It didn’t hurt that Verlander did pitch well versus the Dodgers today.

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There is always a chance, but it is probably very low at the moment. The two teams probably know what it will take to get the deal done, it’s just a matter of compromising. The Astros would be a better team with Verlander but can win without him. We discussed this on Talking Stros earlier. I’m with you, I wish people will stop teasing us.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference and MLB.com***