How much money are Mets sending in Justin Verlander's Trade to Houston? Examining finances of Astros pitcher's deal

In one of the biggest moves of the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline, the New York Mets sent superstar pitcher Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros in exchange for top prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. While the Mets landed two of Houston's top prospects, there was a financial aspect of the deal that needed to be addressed in order to make the trade official.

As reported by MLB Insider Bob Nightengale, the New York Mets are sending roughly $54 million to the Houston Astros as part of the deal if the future Hall of Famer's $35 million option for the 2025 season becomes vested.

"#ThanksUncleSteve needs to trend in Houston. After #Mets paying $54M of @JustinVerlander salary to send him home to Houston and win another ring, Steve Cohen has reshifted the balance of power in AL back to #Astros #Ready2Reign" - @PCreighton1

As explained further by Nightengale, with the amount of Justin Verlander's retained salary, the Houston Astros will only need to pay the superstar roughly $29 million until the end of the 2025 season.

It's an incredible bargain for Houston as the team will need to extend several of their key players in the future, including superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker, who will be looking for a massive extension.

The trade of Justin Verlander not only draws a disappointing end to the much-hyped 2023 season for New York, but the fact that owner Steve Cohen will be paying the first-ballot Hall of Famer to play for one of the best teams in the MLB is the cherry on top.

There is an interesting theory behind New York Mets owner Steve Cohen's decision to retain salary in all of their trade deadline moves

While the 2023 season for New York will go down as an all-time blunder given the amount of money that the team handed out during the offseason, there is an interesting note about how they have sold their players.

According to the account Beyond the Data, there is an underlying theory behind Cohen's decision to retain salary in order to secure young talent. As part of the Verlander deal, the club landed two of the Astros' top prospects, Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford, while eating a chunk of the pitcher's salary.

Although it was a massive trade for Houston, who will be looking to defend their World Series title, Beyond the Data believes that Cohen is flexing his financial power to essentially "buy" top prospects from teams. The same could be said in the Mark Canha deal, with the club landing Justin Jarvis from the Milwaukee Brewers.

"Interesting trade deadline narrative: This Mark Canha trade to the Brewers for Justin Jarvis is the latest where Mets' owner Steve Cohen is paying off part or all of a player's remaining salary to increase the value of his player to "buy" prospects from other teams. Even in trades, Cohen is using his bank account to bully other teams and gain an advantage that most owners don't have. It will be interesting to see whether the MLB steps in to impose competitive balance penalties on owners who do this, as they've been known to do in the past on this topic. #Canha #Mets" - @BeyondTheData