WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Justin Verlander sat in the back of the Astros' packed clubhouse, in the middle of a one-on-one conversation. Then the 2019 American League Cy Young winner and 2017 World Series champion noticed the approaching media, ended his initial chat and began a much larger one.
Cameras quickly collected around the 36-year-old veteran righthander. Reporters lumped together. The Astros' 2020 ace and one of the greatest starting pitchers during the last two decades opened up for the first time about a sign-stealing scandal that has rocked the Astros and Major League Baseball. But, like his teammates, Verlander mostly stuck to general answers and declined to go into specifics.
"It's been difficult," Verlander said Thursday at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. "Showing up in 2017. And once I spent some time there, understood what was happening. I didn't — I wish I had said more. Looking back, I can't go back, I can't reverse my decision. I wish I had said more and I didn't, and for that I'm sorry."
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Verlander was adamant that the Astros did not use electronic devices at the plate in 2019. But when pressed on what he would think if he found out that another team was banging trash cans to relay electronically stolen signs, a franchise-changing addition to the 2017 Astros stayed away from the minutiae.
Did he know about the Astros' sign-stealing reputation before he agreed to join the team during the final minutes of Aug. 31, 2017?
"No," Verlander said.
Did he suspect anything when he started against the Astros while still pitching for Detroit early in the 2017 season?
"I can't really recall right at this moment," Verlander said. "I haven't even thought about it."
What was his first reaction when he learned that his new Astros teammates were electronically stealing signs?
"I don't want to get into too many specifics," Verlander said. "We're here (Thursday) to apologize, as a team, and those opinions were expressed by everybody."
Verlander is a baseball historian and has regularly been outspoken when asked about a multitude of issues affecting a complex modern game. When a reporter mentioned that Verlander would have hated if an opponent was illegally stealing signs when he was on the mound, the expected future Hall of Famer declined to say anything negative about his past and current Astros teammates.
"Again, as a team we've expressed our remorse, myself included," Verlander said. "And I'll leave it at that."
Were the Astros' actions outside the norm? Teams and players have long bent (and broken) the rules in baseball. Was anyone else in MLB doing anything comparable to the Astros in recent years?
"I can't speak for anyone else or any other organization," Verlander said. "The only thing I can do is sit here and speak for the Astros and my teammates and myself. We crossed a boundary, we broke the rules and we're sorry."
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