Who are the two prospects from Justin Verlander trade? All you need to know about Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford

The Astros make it even more likely that one day when Justin Verlander is inducted into the Hall of Fame, he will wear a blue and orange Houston cap at the ceremony – and his time with the Mets will be remembered as a strange jamming point in his long and illustrious career.

Verlander arrived in Houston seconds before the now-defunct waiver deadline in late August 2017, two months before the organization won its first World Series. He won two Cy Young awards and two championship rings – including both last season – with an Astros team that has morphed into a seemingly unstoppable force in the postseason – and a frequent foe as baseball’s greatest villain – over the past half-decade. When Verlander became a free agent last offseason, Mets owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets overwhelmed the ace’s personal relationship with Astros owner Jim Crane, but the Mets’ surprising failure this season created the opportunity for a reunion, and Verlander waived his no-trade clause to accept it.

He will return to an Astros rotation that was the best in baseball when he was part of it last season and that, for the most part, has managed to survive an onslaught of injuries this year but that could use reinforcements in a division that has become much more hotly contested at the top. Now 40 years old, Verlander may be a bit below his unlikely Cy Young form of last season, but he has shown recently that he can still dominate. After a late and initially rough start for the Mets, he pitched to a 3.15 ERA this season, good for 12th among starters with at least 90 innings and good enough to help a shorthanded Astros rotation that nonetheless compiled the third-lowest ERA in baseball.

The Mets never wanted to be in this situation, but they seem to be doing just fine as they are getting rid of the two highest paid players in MLB history.

In Gilbert, the Mets get a prospect who is currently ranked as the No. 68 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, but who has been getting a lot of attention as a prospect on the rise. He was the Astros’ first-round pick in the 2022 draft with the 28th overall pick.

Clifford, ranked by Pipeline as Houston’s No. 4 prospect, is hitting .291/.399/.520 this season between High-A and Double-A. MLB.com’s Jim Callis noted that he would have been ranked as the Astros’ No. 2 prospect again next week if he were still in the system.

The Scherzer trade netted the Mets infield prospect Luisangel Acuña, one of MLB Pipeline’s top 50 prospects, while Robertson got infielder Marco Vargas and catcher Ronald Hernandez, both considered top prospects this offseason.