Justin Verlander was traded to the Astros just shy of the deadline so that he would be eligible to pitch in the postseason, and the Tigers have done him a solid by allowing him to go to a team that is more than likely going to win the World Series. The best team in baseball was the Dodgers until we realized that no one will be able to score against the Astros at all. They are about as stacked as they can be, and perhaps this team can win its first World Series in franchise history.
Verlander is a bit older
I will admit that Verlander is a bit older considering he is in his mid-30s, but it is clear that he is in position to give the Astros another starter who will be hard to gameplan for.
Any team that sees the Astros in the postseason will have a hard time when they get down the pitching order only to find Justin Verlander staring them in the face. The Astros will put the brakes on any slide if they lose a game or two, and they will have Verlander available for relief if they are in a desperate situation. He needed to get away from Detroit, and he needed to have a way of getting to the promised land before he got too old.
This is what 'going for it' looks like
The Astros are now in a position where they have to win now or feel like they have failed. You start buying from desperate teams when you realize that they will give you what you want for less. The Astros fleeced the Tigers because they needed one more pitcher, and this franchise looks as good as it ever has.
It is amazing the transformation a team can make when they are willing to invest a couple years in growing their farm system. The Astros are showing that they have constructed the team properly, and they are proving that young talent typically prevails in the current MLB structure.
I want to see Astros-Dodgers
The Astros-Dodgers World Series looks really likely at this point.
I want to see these two teams go at it for seven games, and I want to get the big payoff that I got last year. I was pleased to see the Cubs win the World Series, and I would be just as pleased to see the Astros win. Yes, I am going all in for the Astros. I will get behind the underdog town that has a hurricane sitting over it.
I will get behind the team that could not even get the Rangers to cooperate with them on a change of schedule, and I will get behind the team that has put its two best players in the hall of fame so that they could watch their alma mater win a World Series. Verlander pushes them just over the edge of extremely good when it counts.
