Verlander relieved Tigers didn't make major roster changes

At the beginning of the offseason, it appeared the Detroit Tigers might make a number of changes to the club after general manager Al Avila stated the team planned to dump payroll.

That didn't end up happening, which was a relief to pitcher Justin Verlander, who was one of many Tigers linked to trade rumors.

Several teams called the Tigers about Verlander in early November, but the 33-year-old winner of the 2011 AL Cy Young and MVP might not have let it happen even if a trade was approved.

"It was interesting hearing about it," Verlander said. "That gets your wheels spinning a little bit ... I'm a 10-and-5, and got a full no-trade so I would have to okay the thing, and I love Detroit. I would have to weigh a lot of things. We want to win. And Mr. Ilitch has done a great job my entire career there putting a great product on the field ... He wants to give Detroit a World Series and so do we."

Verlander is one of several veteran players on an aging - and expensive - Tigers squad that's missed the postseason in two consecutive seasons while owning one of the largest payrolls in the league.

"It would have been upsetting for me if we started trading away everybody. I'm too old to be part of a rebuild, but they kept saying wholeheartedly we're not doing a rebuild, we're trying to make smart baseball decisions, and if we can't make those decisions then we're not going to blow up the team for the sake of salary," Verlander added.

Over the course of his 12 years in the big leagues, Verlander owns a 173-106 record with a 3.47 ERA across 2,339 innings and 352 starts.