Kuzul

Justin Verlander should most definitely be featured in the 2013 MLB All-Star festivities, just as long as he never picks up a bat. 

Common logic aside, the Detroit Tigers ace flirted with the notion of appearing in the Chris Berman bark-fest known as the Home Run Derby with the following tweet:

Please note the pitcher—who has a 3.68 ERA with 82 strikeouts and 1.36 WHIP on the year—is now rocking a Twitter avatar of himself in the batter’s box. 

There should be just one reaction to this if Verlander is indeed serious: 

If you are wondering how successful Verlander might be with a bat in his hands, CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler has an answer to that burning question: 

He has 24 career at-bats. He has zero hits. And 14 strikeouts.

Add in the World Series, and it’s 27 at-bats with 15 strikeouts. And still zero hits.

And yet, every year, Verlander promises he’s going to get a hit. And not just one. And not just a single.

Of course, as Knobler offers, Verlander is probably making the tweet in jest. It should also be noted he has a habit of promising various hits and home runs to reporters to no avail. 

Still, you only need a small spark to ignite a roaring fire of support for an audacious campaign such as this. 

The last thing we need at the Derby is a pitcher who will show us what 10 ground balls in the infield look like. And really, we already have plenty of high-profile sluggers who have us changing the channel thanks to their inability to flip the power switch to the “on” position. 

Yes, we know you’re kidding, Mr. Verlander. But there is nothing funny about the Home Run Derby, except the fact people still seem to enjoy hearing Berman shout “back, back, back” at them all night. 

If we really wanted a Tiger who can’t seem to hit home runs, we could just vote in Victor Martinez. 

Hit me up on Twitter for more pop in your culture: Follow @gabezal

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It was a big day in MLB for teams extending their star players.

And all these extensions will have a direct impact on the Boston Red Sox moving forward.

First, Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers came to an agreement on a five-year extension that will keep Verlander with the Tigers until 2019 with a vesting option for 2020. Total package could be worth $202, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Almost on the heels of Verlander’s deal was word that the San Francisco Giants were locking up star catcher Buster Posey long term with a nine-year, $167 million extension (via MLB Trade Rumors).

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers and star lefty Clayton Kershaw are talking about an extension as well. Given that the market has been set by Verlander, getting the 25-year-old Kershaw under contract seems like a wise idea.

Earlier this winter the Seattle Mariners locked up Felix Hernandez with a seven-year $175 million contract. It is great for baseball that a team like the Mariners can hold onto a player like Hernandez without crippling their team.

In the past, all of these players would have been linked to the Red Sox as they moved closer to free agency. Now, the Red Sox don’t have a shot at them or even a second-tier player like the St. Louis Cardinals‘ Adam Wainwright.  

What this means moving forward is that there are no quick fixes coming for the Red Sox.  

This will be the year to have one eye on what figures to be a pretty tight race in the AL East while having another eye looking at Pawtucket, Portland and the June draft. 

For all the attractiveness of free agency, the Red Sox in recent years have been really burned when signing free agents from other teams.

The recent examples are obvious—from Carl Crawford to John Lackey to Edgar Renteria. Committing big money to players who haven’t come up through your own system is never a sure thing, and doing so has backfired on the Red Sox.

Now when a star player hits free agency, he probably has an obvious flaw or a serious question mark surrounding him. Josh Hamilton and concerns about his off-the-field behavior or Zack Greinke and his ability to handle a high-pressure market come to mind.

The days of a Mike Mussina or a CC Sabathia or Mark Teixeira or Prince Fielder hitting the market appear to be over. MLB has done a very good job of spreading the wealth recently and almost every franchise is doing well financially.

Having players like Verlander and Posey skip free agency to stay home is a great sign for the game.

In the past, the Red Sox have been able to throw their weight around financially. Now the luxury tax has changed the way Boston and even the New York Yankees will operate.

With a more level playing field, every team in baseball should be able to retain the players they want to retain, meaning that Boston will have to be better at developing its own talent.

Looking at MLB Trade Rumors’ Tim Dierkes list of top 10 free agents for 2014, now that Wainwright’s off the board only Robinson Cano profiles as a true free agent star, and he plays a position where the Red Sox are actually set.

Developing Red Sox prospects like Jackie Bradley, Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster now takes on added significance for Boston. At some point, they will all have to have an impact in the major leagues for Boston to contend.

When the season starts Monday, the Red Sox are likely to field a team with six of the nine starters being homegrown. Looking at the current landscape, that’s a starting point for Boston.

Information used from Zach Links/MLB Trade Rumors, Jon Heyman/CBS Sports, Baseball Reference, ESPN, Derrick Goold/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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On March 23, Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander told CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman that he won’t discuss a contract extension during the regular season:

“Once this last start comes around, I want to concentrate on the start of the season,” Verlander said about his decision to halt any negotiations as of Wednesday. (The Tigers are aware of this stance, and seem to concur it’s the proper way to go.)

While Heyman also quotes Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski in the article about Verlander’s stance, this could be a setback for the Tigers:

I don’t think anything productive comes from talking about a contract during the season. We try to keep distractions out. It’s been rare when we’ve done it, and it’s usually more about free agents.

The problem with Verlander not wanting to discuss an extension during the season is that next offseason, he’ll be only a year away from free agency. 

Verlander is extremely competitive and has gone on record saying that he wants to be the first $200 million pitcher in baseball. It was on March 6 that Verlander addressed his desire for a $200 million contract to USA Today‘s James Jahnke:

On comments he made about the $200 million: “They got taken out of context a little bit, but I’m not going to take back what I said. Do you want to be the first $200-million pitcher? Yeah, absolutely.”

Verlander has discussed experiencing free agency as well, which has to be a concern for the Tigers front office.

On Feb. 12, Verlander talked about his interest in testing free agency with Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi:

Absolutely. I think that’d be a blast. If I have two more years like I just had, it would be pretty interesting.

Verlander then explained what he would enjoy about it:

You know how competitive I am. It’s kind of fun thinking about having teams battle for you.

The speculation over Verlander’s contract status had been put on the back burner over the last several weeks, but with his comments on March 23, his status will be a topic entering the regular season.

While it is probably for the best that Verlander and the Tigers won’t allow talks to affect his pitching, Verlander is so focused due to his competitive nature that his pitching would have been unlikely to be affected if talks were occurring.

Now with the clock ticking on Verlander’s current contract, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched for Verlander to hit the open market. If that occurs, it will be hard for the Tigers to try to compete with the clubs in the bigger markets.

Hopefully, Verlander wants to finish his career in Detroit and be considered a Tiger for life. However, it will be a challenge to get him to sign an extension next offseason, when he’ll only be closer to free agency.

Follow @brettkaplan

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There was Hal Newhouser, Prince Hal, who never got the credit he fully deserved because he had the misfortune of dominating during the so-called “war years,” as if he planned it out that way.

There was Jim Bunning, who’d one day baffle America as a Senate curmudgeon. But before that he baffled hitters.

There was Denny McLain, whose life off the field was as turbulent as a private plane in a storm, but who thrilled for two years with fastballs, the organ and hubris.

There was Mickey Lolich, old rubber arm himself, portly and durable. Mr. Opening Day.

There was Jack Morris. The Cat, who never met a big game he didn’t like, or thrive in.

Then there’s Justin Verlander.

It’s Verlander’s world and we’re all just living in it—and that includes American League hitters.

See Verlander smile, broadly. See him giving TV interviews during games. See him with swimsuit models. See him throw no-hitters, and come close to throwing more.

See Verlander win the Rookie of the Year award. See him pitch in two World Series. See him win the Cy Young Award and the MVP in the same year. See him almost win another Cy Young.

Verlander isn’t a pitcher, he’s a cereal box.

The Tigers haven’t had a pitcher like Verlander, in terms of personality, talent and accomplishment, since…well, they never have.

We are seeing something unprecedented right now. The Tigers have a top flight pitcher, maybe the best in the game today, whose world is his oyster. And there’s something else that may be unprecedented.

Actually, there are maybe 200 million things that could be unprecedented.

Verlander’s contract expires after the 2014 season. Whether the Tigers sign him to a new deal before then or not, it’s likely that Justin Verlander will become the big league’s first $200 million pitcher.

I’m usually not keen on giving pitchers outlandish contracts. Pitchers are high maintenance, delicate creatures. They make their living putting their arms through gyrations that the human arm wasn’t meant to be put through. After every outing, they strap enough ice on their arm to keep a keg of beer cold.

The ink dries on their big contracts and the next thing you know, they’re in the doctor’s office. Then they’re on the disabled list.

The fat contract for pitchers I usually shy away from. But Verlander is no typical pitcher.

I would have no qualms throwing $200 million at him, spread over 7-10 years, even though he just turned 30 years old. And I’d have no qualms even if it was my money to spend, to show you.

I’d have no qualms because Verlander isn’t a typical pitcher any more than was Feller or Koufax or Ryan or Clemens. Verlander is a freak, but in a good way.

Like Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens before him—power pitchers with howitzers for arms—Verlander has that feel about him. He has that feel of someone who is going to be bringing it well into his 30s, if not into his early 40s.

First, there’s no violent delivery to put unneeded wear and tear on the arm. Verlander’s motion is as smooth as a milk shake and as powerful as a locomotive. The baseball explodes out of his arm with nary a jerk or a snap.

Second, in seven full seasons he’s never sniffed the disabled list, and he’s never had a “tired” or “dead” arm. It just doesn’t feel like he’s ever going to be brittle.

Verlander is going to get his money—somewhere. So it may as well be in Detroit.

But here’s where the fun-loving, the world-is-my-oyster Verlander shows up.

He recently told the press that to be a free agent would be “fun.”

You gotta like a guy who doesn’t mince words.

Of course it would be fun, to be the best pitcher on the planet and have teams lined up, ready to shower you with cash. Who wouldn’t love to be courted and wooed?

That’s not to say that the Tigers won’t sign Verlander to a contract extension long before free agency can kick in, with its temptations and playful wickedness.

Owner Mike Ilitch never met a big star that didn’t make him want to break out his wallet—whether his own player or that of another team’s. That goes for the Red Wings, too. If you could play at the highest level, Ilitch signed you. If you were a member of one his teams, he kept you.

How many Red Wings players did Ilitch let walk away into free agency? Only two notable names pop out—Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan. And both wanted to leave for different reasons. Fedorov chased crazy money with Anaheim in 2003, and Shanahan felt that the torch should be passed to younger Red Wings when he left for the New York Rangers in 2006.

Other than those two cases, Ilitch has kept his stars in Detroit when it comes to his hockey team. In baseball, he’s done the same thing—while adding to the payroll with players from outside the organization.

So I wouldn’t worry too much about Justin Verlander hitting the free market after next season. Ilitch won’t have that. There will come a time when the owner will yank Dave Dombrowski by the ear into a room and ask his GM, flat out, how much it’s going to cost to keep Verlander in the Old English D. Dombrowski will tell his boss, who will fork over a check, and that will be that.

That check is likely to steamroll past $200 million.

It will be a bargain.

Verlander is nothing like we’ve ever seen on a pitching mound in Detroit. He’s 30 years old and he’s just getting started. He’s pitched in more big games already than most guys will see in a lifetime. His awards and achievements and accolades read like a 20-year veteran’s. He’s funny and good-looking and loves the media.

He also thinks free agency will be fun. Too bad he’ll never get to find out for real.

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After an early exit from the playoffs last season, the Washington Nationals won’t have an easy road back this year, with a number of teams in the MLB poised for a trip to the World Series.

Arguably the best team in the regular season in 2012, the Nationals are ready to make a deep push into the playoffs, but several other teams have that same goal.

While Washingotn has made a number of solid moves in the offseason, including the signings of outfielder Denard Span and reliever Rafael Soriano, other teams have made equally impressive moves.

These include teams in both the National League and American League, so if the Nationals are able to go where they’ve never gone before, they’re opponent will likely be just as tough as the St. Louis Cardinals were in the National League Division Series.

These are the teams who pose the greatest threat to the Nationals on their quest to a World Series championship in 2013.

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The San Francisco Giants’ Cinderella-like postseason run that was capped by their second World Series championship in three seasons will forever be cemented in franchise history.

The Giants proved they could compete and be successful with far inferior talent than their opposition. The Giants were the best team during the 2012 playoffs for one reason; they had a solid nucleus of veteran leadership that never weakened.

The 2013 season could be much different.

A number of teams went all-in during free agency, looking to reload and better themselves for the season to come, while other teams leaned on the conservative side.  

Teams that had an active offseason in terms of upgrading their rosters included, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Washington, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels and the Detroit Tigers.

It’s certainly premature to say which teams will make it to the Fall Classic in October. But it’s fair to point out that the aforementioned clubs are in the best position to do so based on how active they were this offseason. 

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Justin Verlander is the best pitcher on the planet, and the Detroit Tigers should do everything they can to ensure that he never puts on another jersey.

The 29-year-old hurler was the Tigers’ No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 amateur draft and made his major league debut just a year later on July 4, 2005.

Verlander only made two starts in 2005, but the next year, in his first full season, he made his presence felt, going 17-9 with a 3.63 ERA and leading Detroit to the playoffs and an appearance in the World Series.

He had a rocky year in 2008, going 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA, but since then, he’s become the best active pitcher in Major League Baseball.

After rebounding in 2009 by going 19-9 with a 3.45 ERA and recording a career-high 269 strikeouts in 240 innings over 35 starts, the Tigers rewarded Verlander in February, 2010 with a five-year, $80 million contract.

Verlander returned the favor over the next three seasons, assembling a combined 59-22 record with ERA’s of 3.37 in 2010 and 2.64 in 2012, and after recording a 2.40 ERA in 2011, he was crowned AL MVP.

But as Verlander’s contract—which ends after the 2014 season—winds down, the Tigers haven’t made any apparent moves to re-sign the right-handed ace.

“There’s been no discussions as of yet,” Verlander said to MLive.com’s James Schmehl at Comerica Park during during the first day of the Tigers’ annual Winter Caravan. “And, I don’t know if there will be.”

But there needs to be a conversation about an extension sometime soon.

The Tigers can’t allow Verlander to get anywhere close to free agency and certainly can’t allow any other teams to try to lure him away from Detroit.

Because blockbuster deals are essentially based on how much the similar competition has gotten paid, Verlander’s next contract will be based on what players like CC Sabathia and Zack Greinke have recently received.

After the 2011 season, Sabathia agreed to a five-year, $122 million contract extension with the New York Yankees, and in December, Greinke agreed to a six year, $147 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Both players are making around $24.5 million per year, and neither player has been as good as Verlander the last two seasons.

Based on Greinke and Sabathia’s contracts, Verlander should receive a deal worth over $25 million a year.

The Tigers have done a good job surrounding Verlander with a lot of talent that is capable of winning a World Series, but they also have to pay their ace what he’s worth.

They can’t allow him to sniff the possibility of free agency and a possible better contract with another team.

Verlander told MLive.com:

You know me and how competitive I am with every aspect of everything. I’m my own individual. I don’t look at anybody else and say he did this or that. It’s what I’m comfortable with when it comes to something like that.

The five-time All-Star deserves to be the highest-paid pitcher and among the highest-paid players in the game.

Owner Mike Ilitch has opened his wallet lately in search of a World Series title and should continue to do so to pad Verlander’s pockets.

And he should do so sooner rather than later.

Verlander has made it clear that he wants to be one of the few MLB superstars to begin and end his career with the same team and has made it clear that his heart is with the Tigers.

Detroit is where he belongs.

“I’ve made this point before that my ultimate goal is to make the Hall of Fame,” he said. “I would like nothing more than to go to the Hall of Fame with an Old English D on my chest.”

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Justin Verlander is one of the top pitchers in baseball, and the Detroit Tigers have to ensure that he spends his whole career in a Tigers uniform.

It will be easier said than done, and how the Tigers and Verlander approach an extension will be the tough part. Since the end of last season, I have believed that the Tigers should have made signing Verlander to an extension their first offseason move, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

According to James Schmehl at Mlive.com, Verlander reiterated his love for Detroit and mentioned spending his whole career as a Tiger:

I’ve made it no secret that I love Detroit. I grew up in front of these fans. I feel like I’ve been a big part of this city and this city has become a big part of me. So, obviously, I’d love to play my career here.

When asked about Verlander being a Tiger back in October, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, “For sure. We’d like to have him be a Detroit Tiger for his career.”

So with both Verlander and Dombrowski on the same page about Verlander staying in Detroit, you might think that an extension would happen quickly—particularly early in the offseason—but clearly that was not the case.

With baseball contracts going sky-high for starting pitchers with even less talent than Verlander, the Tigers would have little chance of re-signing him if he ever hit the free-agent market. That is why with Verlander two seasons away from free agency, this would have been the perfect time to come to an agreement.

Since the end of last season, a few factors have made signing him a lot more expensive and difficult.

The first factor was watching Zack Greinke sign a six-year, $147 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Greinke is not as good as Verlander, so Verlander might figure that he deserves to get $200 million from the Tigers. 

According to Schmehl, when asked about becoming the first $200 million pitcher, Verlander said:

You know me and how competitive I am with every aspect of everything. I’m my own individual. I don’t look at anybody else and say he did this or that. It’s what I’m comfortable with when it comes to something like that.

If I were the GM of the Tigers, I would start to get worried about Verlander’s initial asking price.

As Schmehl mentioned in his article, the next factor is the new TV deals that are coming up. It’s crazy how the Dodgers are going to get between $7 and $8 billion for a 20-year deal.

I predict this TV deal will set off a war between teams trying to one-up each other. With this found money, teams can distribute the cash to free agents, which will hurt the teams that are locked into older TV deals.

According to Forbes, the Tigers current TV deal that was signed with Fox SportsNet Detroit in 2008 is for 10 years and $400 million. At the time, it was one of the more lucrative TV deals in baseball, but in a few short years it’s already been eclipsed by 10 times the amount. 

The Dodgers getting up to $400 million a year, which is the value of the Tigers’ whole TV deal, shows how much more creative the Tigers front office will need to be in the future to keep their star players.

The bottom line is that the Tigers will struggle to compete with the teams in the larger markets for free agents. While Verlander may want to stay in Detroit, money still talks, and other teams have an excess of it.

Another factor that the Tigers need to take into account is the eventual change in the quality of Verlander’s stuff when he loses some velocity on his fastball, which is inevitable. Verlander has been a remarkably durable workhorse with an easy throwing motion.

Still, the question remains: Will Verlander overcompensate when he loses his velocity and change his mechanics? 

The Tigers aren’t like the New York Yankees, which can absorb bad contracts. They need to make sure each player performs to the level that he is paid.

Will Verlander be worth around $25 million per year when he is 36 or 37 years old? That is what the Tigers are potentially looking at.

The Tigers are already stretched thin as a Midwest team, and who knows how much longer they’ll be able to maintain their payroll at the current level. If Verlander gets injured or isn’t successful, then the Tigers may not be able to afford young players or unload his contract.

I know this sounds negative, but I’m just trying to remain realistic for the future.

The last and most important factor that makes signing Verlander more difficult is that pitcher Anibal Sanchez re-signed with the Tigers for five years, $80 million.

While Sanchez is a good pitcher, he is still the Tigers’ No. 4 pitcher in the starting rotation. I can’t see why Verlander would accept any “hometown discount,” especially when the Tigers have been spending so much money on other players.

With other starting pitchers like Clayton Kershaw and Felix Hernandez signing extensions, I would rather have Verlander as the benchmark contract than those two.

While I think Verlander wants to stay in Detroit, he needs to look in the mirror and ask himself what he is willing to sacrifice to make it a reality so he can help himself as well as the Tigers.

Follow @brettkaplan

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The Tigers rode their starting rotation to a Central Division title and an appearance in the World Series. The Tigers have insured they will have the same rotation (more or less) that pitched a great postseason for Detroit.

They do have several questions facing them for the 2013 season, can they stay healthy, can Porcello or Smyly take a hold of the fifth job, and can recently re-signed Anibal Sanchez pitch as well as he did down the stretch and in the playoffs.

Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer finished 2012 leading all of baseball in strikeouts. What can we expect from them and the other Tigers starters in 2013?

Lets take a look and see.

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One-time first overall pick Matt Bush is in the news again, and as expected it is not positive. And his ordeal is a warning sign to teams hoping to cut corners on draft day.

According to the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports), the San Diego Padres top pick in the 2004 draft pleaded no contest for a drunk driving hit-and-run crash.

The former shortstop turned pitcher hit the 72-year-old Tony Tufano’s motorcycle and then fled the scene in North Port Florida. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. He is sentenced to four years in prison and will be 31 years old when his sentence ends.

There have been many number one overall picks that have flamed out. Shawn Abner and Brien Taylor come to mind. But the legal problems of Matt Bush could make him the worst number one pick of all time, especially when considering the other players available in the draft.

According to Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated, Bush was not the first or second choice of the Padres organization. They wanted Stephen Drew, a star at Florida State or Jered Weaver, a Cal State Long Beach stand out. And the two have become solid major leaguers.

But both were represented by Scott Boras and the powerful agent wanted sky-high bonuses for his clients. The penny-pinching Padres passed and Drew became a Diamondback and Weaver became an Angel.

According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Padres spent a little more than $3 million on a signing bonus for local product Matt Bush with the number one pick, a player virtually nobody had among the elite available prospects.

The team may have wanted to have avoided spending money on a Boras client and instead threw $3 million away. The very next pick in the draft was also not a Boras client. The Detroit Tigers selected Justin Verlander with the number two pick.

According to Baseball Reference, Verlander’s father Richard negotiated the contract. The signing bonus and guaranteed money equaled $5.6 million.

For a little more than $2 million, the Padres could have had Justin Verlander under their control for six major league seasons.

Instead Bush was a disaster from the start. Bill Center of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote about Bush being suspended his very first minor league season after he was charged with a felony and a misdemeanor at a Peoria Arizona nightclub.

His minor league failures, injuries and legal troubles have been well-documented. The final straw for the Padres, according to Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union Tribune, was a fight captured on tape punctuated by him screaming “I’m Matt F—ing Bush” and driving away drunk.

That was in February, 2009. By that point Justin Verlander had won the 2006 Rookie of the Year, won 17 games one season and 18 games the next, had pitched in the World Series and had his first no-hitter under his belt.

The Padres sent Bush to the Blue Jays who cut him after another incident. A year later he tried a comeback in the Tampa Bay system as a pitcher, but his inability to stay out of trouble has not only kept him from the majors but landed him in prison.

The idea of Verlander in the Padres system is an agonizing one. Had he come up through the system as he did with the Detroit Tigers, Verlander would have been a big league starter in 2006.

As all Padres fans know, the team had a solid pitching staff and an unhittable bullpen in 2006. The won the division but lost to a seemingly inferior St. Louis Cardinals team who eventually beat Verlander’s Tigers in the World Series.

Would a pitcher of Verlander’s talent have been the difference in a postseason matchup? Certainly a Cy Young candidate inserted into the 2007 pitching staff would have meant a postseason berth.

Padres starter Jake Peavy won the Cy Young Award in 2007 and were in first place by themselves in September. They were two Trevor Hoffman meltdowns from clinching a wild-card spot but lost the one game Wild-Card playoff to the eventual National League Champion Colorado Rockies.

In back-to-back seasons, the Padres lost to the team that would represent the National League in the World Series.

Would Verlander in the rotation as a one-two punch with Jake Peavy had been the difference in clinching the elusive title for the Padres? Would San Diego fans have their moment of glory they have been waiting generations for in the mid 2000’s the way that Angels fans, Red Sox fans, White Sox fans and Phillies fans had that decade?

Would Verlander have made the difference in the razor-thin 2010 race?

In this day and age of high-priced starters, the most economical way of acquiring an ace is to develop one. They had one with Jake Peavy but alas allowed one to slip away in order to save money on draft day.

It is impossible to know for sure how Verlander would have fared in San Diego. But playing in a pitchers park and division would have been in his favor.

The Padres could have had that for a few million dollars more. Instead, they chose Matt Bush. Justin Verlander won a Cy Young and MVP award and nearly won another Cy Young this year. Matt Bush is in jail.

What could have been indeed.

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