Astros prediction revives a roster addition that always felt inevitable

It’s honestly kind of funny that we’re sitting here in mid-January and Justin Verlander still doesn’t have a landing spot. Because the Houston Astros reunion has been floating around the league like a screen-saver for weeks.

Now Kerry Miller from Bleacher Report just said the quiet part out loud: if you’re looking for one “realistic option” to plug the Astros’ biggest roster hole, it’s Verlander. Again. The bigger question is why this keeps feeling inevitable — and why the Astros might not be able to talk their way out of it.

Astros’ Justin Verlander decision might quietly decide how stressful 2026 gets

Bleacher Report’s framing is spot on: Houston’s rotation has a real path to being nasty, but it also has a real path to being a recurring medical update. B/R basically lays it out perfectly. Hunter Brown, Tatsuya Imai, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., plus Mike Burrows/Spencer Arrighetti can be a season where you’re begging for two healthy starters at a time. 

The Astros used 15 different starting pitchers last season. And that’s the part some fans don’t want to admit. This front office has already tried to build a “deep enough” group. It still ends up needing one more stabilizer.

Verlander is about to turn 43, and every team in baseball is trying to be the one that doesn’t get stuck holding hanging on to how good he looked in his start (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7 K vs. the Rockies on Sept. 27, 2025).. 

But here’s what keeps dragging Houston back to the idea: Verlander wasn’t just limping to the finish last year — he was legitimately good down the stretch. After July 18, he posted a 2.60 ERA over his final 13 starts, and ranked eighth in NL pitcher WAR in that span. That’s the exact profile the Astros should be hunting.

If Houston is waiting around because it wants a discount, fine. But it can’t let that pride turn into roster negligence. The alternative is pretending the rotation risk isn’t real — when last season already told you it is. And if you’re wondering why Verlander hasn’t signed yet? The market is probably telling him the same thing the Astros are: the fit is obvious… but the price has to match reality.

Which is exactly why this still feels inevitable.