re: DAT: Get us out of Tampa. Rangers ( Martinez) vs. Astros (Jabroni)

Nightengale on how the deal got done

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Verlander was informed by the Tigers it would be the Astros or nobody.

So, after getting permission from the Tigers, he started making calls. The Astros called him. He had questions. Lots of them.

He talked with Astros ace Dallas Keuchel. He talked with Astros owner Jim Crane. He talked with Astros manager A.J. Hinch.

“He was a little worried about Houston (in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey),’’ Crane told USA TODAY Sports. “I told him, 'This town is going to be fine. It’s going to take time. You will be received great here. We’ve got a good team, a good manager, a good front office. There won’t be any problems here.

“The big thing to him was that he had never been traded. He didn’t know a lot about the city. I told him, 'We’ve got a lot of good players for a few more years. This is a great spot of reaching your goal of winning the World Series. You got to take a shot.’

“He had to make up his mind in a hurry because there wasn’t much time.’’

There was so little time that once the three Astros prospects cleared physicals - pitcher Franklin Perez, outfielder Daz Cameron and catcher Jake Rogers - Tigers GM Al Avila was waiting at Verlander’s home with the trade papers for him to sign.

Verlander, once the Astros agreed to provide full no-trade rights while also voiding the 2020 option year in his contract, agreed with about two minutes before midnight.

“It was close,’’ Crane said. “He decided to come over at the last second.’’

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“I think it will bring hope,’’ Hinch said Friday, “something to look forward to while we rebuild the city, and rebuild parts of the city that some of us can’t fathom that’s been destroyed. We are a baseball team. We will keep it in proper perspective, and provide entertainment for a lot of people in our community.

“I think this team will work really hard to make this city proud, make this city feel good when there are a lot of people going through tough times.’’

The Astros’ impact on the community was important enough for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to request the Astros to return to Houston this weekend instead of playing their three-game series against the New York Mets in Tampa.

The Astros, who had 20 employees lose their homes during the flooding, will provide free tickets for about 5,000 Houston natives. They will honor first responders. Turner will throw out the first pitch.

“It’s going to be great just to get people’s minds off devastation,’’ said Crane, “uplifting for the city, and help take their mind off this. It’s bad. We’ll raise money and turn a big negative into some relief for the community.’’

Oh, and yes, and they’ll be unveiling Verlander for all of Houston to see.

“We all want to keep everything in perspective,’’ Luhnow said. “There were a lot of people that suffered tremendous loss over the course of last week, and our city will be suffering the consequences of this storm for a long time to come.

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So, the way I read this -- Detroit wasn't decided on a complete rebuild yet. Once Upton cleared waivers and a trade was negotiated with the Angels, Detroit went back to entertain the Astros offer.

I suspect the Astros offer did not differ any from the offer made 4 weeks ago. And then again, once Verlander cleared waivers, there was more talk of Astros reaching out to Detroit and things "fizzled".

Detroit has been holding out all this time for a better offer. Nothing came and then they had to wait for JV to decide.

Luhnow & Co. probably shite enough diamonds last night around 11:45PM to pay the remainder of JV's contract.

ETA: Ryno -- my heart goes out to you dude. If there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know. (same offer goes out to any other DATer effected.). We've made some contributions to some local fund-drives for Houston and CC areas but we'll gladly do more where possible.

Thanks man. Thank you for giving to those in need. I can't go home yet but I'm more fortunate than a lot of others right now. I'm going to be spending a lot of time over the next few weeks helping folks in total devastation. I'll start trolling the Dat in earnest next spring.