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Justin Verlander's stay with the New York Mets rotation might be ending much earlier than what some fans had expected. Before the series against the San Diego Padres, analysts looked at the importance of the start in the series opener.
Justin Verlander has had a mediocre season so far as per his high standards. The 3x Cy Young award winner had a delayed start to the season because of an injury he sustained in the offseason. After his debut for New York at the start of May, he has posted a 3.66 ERA with 55 strikeouts and a 3-4 record.
Because of the size of his contract, various analysts in the media have assessed whether Verlander would be traded to a different club to extract cash benefits.
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On SNY's MLB analysis show, analyst Andy Martino said:
"Well he pitched well last time out and I would expect to see more of the same. His stuff's been trending in the right direction. It is an important start for him, in the sense that it is an important start for the team. It's certainly feasible this is his one of his last two or three starts in a Met uniform.
"Because if the team doesn't have a good series, then you go into the Draft. After the Draft, the front office focuses really fully on buyers and sellers and there are teams already circling on Verlander certainly and Scherzer somewhat."
SNY analysts brush off Justin Verlander's chances of waiving the no-trade clause
The general opinion seems to be that Justin Verlander might not be that committed to staying on with the Mets if given the opportunity to be traded elsewhere:
"I don't think he is waiving that no-trade. I think both have sort of been non-commital about it. The Mets will most likely to move both and land prospects to get some money. So in a way each game, you can say about Max on Sunday, they are pitching to keep their place on the team, trying to keep the team together."
The 40-year-old had a solid start against the Padres, pitching six innings with five hits earning two runs and striking out two.
