Justin Verlander nearly didn't join the Astros. There were reports that the longtime Tigers ace turned down a trade to Houston on the eve of the MLB's waiver trade deadline. Detroit was the only place Verlander had called home over his 13 MLB seasons and he had reservations about uprooting his life to head to Houston, a city that had just been rocked by Hurricane Harvey. 

Ultimately, though, Verlander approved the deal about two minutes before the deadline. Now he's a World Series champion. 

Verlander earned his first title Wednesday night as the Astros beat the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series. After the final out and at some point during the raucous celebration it's likely the pitcher's mind wandered back to his old team the mid-season trade that changed his life. 

During Houston's victory party, the Tigers wanted to let Verlander know they were thinking about him too. They congratulated their former star with a tweet shortly after the season came to a close.

It was a classy gesture by the Tigers, who clearly have a ton of respect for the man who was a Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP winner in their uniform. He still means a lot to that city, and the city undoubtedly still means a lot to him. A piece from Bob Nightengale of USA Today just after the trade shined light on how much it actually took Verlander to sign off on leaving Detroit. 

He talked with Astros ace Dallas Keuchel. He talked with Astros owner Jim Crane. He talked with Astros manager A.J. Hinch.

"He was a little worried about Houston (in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey),'' Crane told USA TODAY Sports. "I told him, 'This town is going to be fine. It's going to take time. You will be received great here. We've got a good team, a good manager, a good front office. There won't be any problems here.

"The big thing to him was that he had never been traded. He didn't know a lot about the city. I told him, 'We've got a lot of good players for a few more years. This is a great spot of reaching your goal of winning the World Series. You got to take a shot.'

He wound up taking that shot, and on Wednesday night he was probably damn glad he did. Getting traded is never easy, but everything seemed to work out pretty well for Verlander -- especially considering his initial trade destination of choice was the Dodgers.