Justin Verlander thanks Tigers, fans for last 12 years in good-bye video

Former Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander has made a public statement one day after he was traded to the Houston Astros.

Posting a video on his Instagram account at about 4 p.m. on Friday, Verlander starts by saying, "last night, I was given about 45 minutes to make the hardest decision of my life."

Thank you to Detroit for an incredible 13-seasons, a city that will always be important to me. But now I couldn’t be more excited to join the Astros and am looking forward to getting started right away. I am committed to making an impact off the field, especially during such difficult times. My Foundation, Wins for Warriors, will continue to do the great work we have started in Detroit, but will also expand to Houston effective immediately and get involved with aiding the #HurricaneHarvey disaster relief efforts. @winsforwarriors

A post shared by Justin Verlander (@justinverlander) on

The deadline for the trade for Houston to have Verlander on its postseason roster was 11:59 p.m. The deal needed to be approved by the pitcher, who had 10-and-5 rights and could veto any trade he was involved in.

But as he prepares to leave, Verlander said good-bye.

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"Firstly, I want to thank everyone here in Detroit, from the front office, to all of my teammates and especially the fans," Verlander said. "The way you guys have treated me the last 12 years has been so special to me. Going all the way back to 2006, when this city was in turmoil, I remember how everybody rallied around our team, going to the World Series that year and what it meant to the city."

And now, he heads to Houston, where he's scheduled to make his first start on Tuesday, and the circumstances may be similar.

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