New York Mets Players Tell Verlander They Weren't Behind 'Diva' Comments
The New York Mets would love to put last year's disastrous results behind them.
After entering the season with expectations to contend for a World Series title, they ended up becoming sellers at the trade deadline and starting a miniature rebuild.
But, prior to that decision, the Mets sat in Spring Training during 2023 with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga at the top of their rotation. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor were poised to lead their lineup into title contention.
That fell apart and no one really has the answer as to why.
What is known is that after New York dealt him to the Houston Astros at the deadline, someone called Verlander a diva during his tenure with the franchise.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post spoke to the legendary pitcher about this and it seems like Verlander is still a little bit upset over being called that.
Based on what he told the insider, he wouldn't have been surprised if someone labeled him that during the early portion of his career. He was intensely driven during his time with the Detroit Tigers and didn't give attention to anyone who wasn't.
Verlander has certainly changed over the years and this comment bothered him.
So much so that he called his Mets teammates to check and see if he was one.
"Everyone I spoke to said, 'JV that's not the case,' " he told Heyman.
The mystery continues to rage on about why that comment was released to the media and who said it.
People who were around Verlander and Scherzer during their time with the Tigers would be shocked to learn that the two elite starters put their past differences behind them and it wasn't Scherzer who called him a diva.
Verlander is happy they could be teammates again in New York, even if it was for just half of the season.
It seems like the former MVP and three-time Cy Young winner might never know who considered his actions with the Mets to be diva-like.
