Justin Verlander's Injury Offers Houston Astros 'Creative' Offseason Options

Last season, like they so often are, the Houston Astros were in a position to add to their roster at the trade deadline so they could make a run at defending their World Series title.

After seeing Justin Verlander depart to the New York Mets during the winter, they decided to bring back their ace to join them on their quest of repeating as champions.

Unfortunately, the Astros came up one game short in the ALCS, but they were able to get back the future Hall of Famer for the 2024 season.

With him in the mix, Houston was the favorites to come out of the American League this year, but based on his salary, it gave the front office little options to add pieces if they wanted to stay under the luxury tax like it was initially expected.

Eventually, owner Jim Crane gave the green light for general manager Dana Brown to hand Josh Hader the most expensive contract for a closer in Major League history, and they flew over that first threshold.

But there was an interesting thing in Verlander's contract the Astros inherited when they dealt for him in 2023.

If the superstar were to go over 140 innings this season, then his $35 million vesting option for 2025 would become fully guaranteed. The Mets would have to have to pay half of it as part of the trade deal according to Danny Abriano of SNY, so Houston wouldn't have been on the hook for all of it.

Still, $17.5 million for a 42-year-old pitcher who has had injury issues in the past few seasons is not something the Astros would have ideally wanted to pay.

With it looking increasingly unlikely that Verlander is going to hit the 140 inning threshold, having only pitched 57 through this point in the year, then Houston won't have to pay out that much money.

Michael Shapiro of Chron.com thinks this will allow Brown and his staff to pursue other upgrades across this roster.

"But the veteran's injury, while unfortunate for the club in 2024, could be crucial for future flexibility in 2025 ... This is a roster with holes in the rotation and at first base. With Verlander's guarantee off the books, Houston's brass could get creative this winter," he writes.

What that could mean for them is unknown right now.

That amount of money probably doesn't turn them into favorites to keep Alex Bregman from walking in free agency, but it could land them some additional starting pitchers to be stopgaps as Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy recover from their Tommy John surgeries. They could also use it to fortify their bullpen or even work on extensions with Kyle Tucker or Framber Valdez.

What is known is that if Verlander doesn't hit 140 innings this year, then the Astros will have plenty of options during the upcoming offseason.