Astros' Justin Verlander responds to 'diva' label from Mets tenure

Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander has once again addressed a story from last summer that included somebody from within the New York Mets saying that Verlander was a "diva" during his brief stint with the National League organization. 

"Everyone I spoke to said, 'JV that’s not the case,'" Verlander said during a chat with MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post about responses the right-hander received from former Mets teammates after the original story was published. 

Verlander signed a two-year, $86.66M contract that included a vesting third-year option to join the Mets in December 2022. The 2023 Mets were then a mess seemingly both on and off the field, and part of the "diva" story also suggested that "there was occasional discord" between Verlander and co-ace Max Scherzer before both were traded as part of New York's summer fire sale. 

Verlander took to X, formerly known as Twitter, in August to say he had "nothing but respect for the Mets organization" and that he felt "sorry to hear that a staff member took offense to constructive criticism on how we could improve." While Scherzer insisted that same month that the 2023 Mets "actually had a great clubhouse," it's widely believed that wasn't the case and that the team's problems may have existed for several years.

"We both understood the mission had kind of failed," Verlander said about how he and Scherzer accepted exits out of New York ahead of last summer's trade deadline.

Outsiders may never fully know why the most expensive squad in all of MLB for 2023 flopped so badly across a handful of months before Mets owner Steve Cohen decided to go in a different direction. One thing that's clear is that Verlander took the "diva" jab personally. 

"I wasn’t always the best teammate," Verlander told Heyman about his younger days in the league. "I was like a horse with blinders on running a race. I’m in it. This is what it takes to be as great as I can be. Don’t get in my way. That didn’t provide a lot of bull---- time. If you weren’t on that wavelength, we didn’t connect." 

What's done is done, and the future Hall of Famer acknowledged he is "super happy" to be back with Houston after he was first associated with that club from a portion of the 2017 season through 2022.