Justin Verlander isn't bearing any ill will against the Detroit Tigers after his blockbuster trade to Houston, but stresses it wasn't easy to go.
"Last night I was given 45 minutes to make the hardest decision of my life," says Verlander in a video posted to his Instagram account.
Verlander was sent to the Houston Astros for three prospects in a midnight deal: right-hander Franklin Perez, outfielder Daz Cameron and catcher Jake Rogers.
The prospects are considered three of Houston's best 11 according to MLBPipeline.com.
Verlander still has a lot of love for Detroit.
"Firstly, I want to thank everyone here in Detroit from the front office, to all of my teammates and especially the fans — the way you guys have treated me over the last 12 years has been so special to me," says Verlander.
One of his best memories with the Tigers was going to the World Series in 2006 when Detroit was on hard times.
"Going all the way back to 2006 when this city was in turmoil, I remember the way everybody rallied around our team going to the World Series that year and what it meant to this city and what a special time in my life," says Verlander.
He sees some parallels to where he's going and where he's been in baseball.
"I'm excited to go to Houston. It's another city in turmoil right now as everybody knows." says Verlander. "I'm excited to give the city something to rally around and something to cheer for and root for and hopefully we can bring a championship to Houston, so I'm excited for this next chapter in my life."
Verlander is set to make his debut with Houston on Tuesday.
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