Future Hall of Fame Pitcher Says He Would Have Joined Dodgers Last Year

Veteran Houston Astros pitcher says the Dodgers were interested in trading for him last season.

Justin Verlander in Dodger blue? No way. 

In an interview with the New York Post, the future Hall of Fame pitcher opened up about last season while with the New York Mets before the All-Star Break. He also discussed when he knew he was going to be traded from New York.

"Verlander said he heard at the trade deadline that the Dodgers and Orioles were interested, and he said he’d have accepted Los Angeles or even Baltimore if those were the options. “I’m from Virginia,” Verlander said. But when Houston, where he’d won his rings, became viable, he said he was happy to “steer things” that way."

— via 

Jon Heyman of the New York Post

The Dodgers were desperate for pitching late last season, and acquiring Verlander would have changed that. However, how would that have affected the offseason transactions of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto?

Nobody will know how that would have worked out. Verlander ended up going back to the Astros and said he was happy things worked out with Houston.

Verlander went 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 11 regular-season starts (68 innings) in his return to Houston and also made three postseason starts before the club was eliminated by the Rangers in the ALCS.