Justin Verlander appears to have responded to the claim that he was a “diva” in the Mets clubhouse.
In the wake of a new report from The Post’s Mike Puma, in which an unnamed Met dubbed the three-time Cy Young winner a “diva” who was detached from teammates, Verlander stated Monday he has “nothing but respect” for the organization, which dealt him to the Astros before the trade deadline earlier this month.
“I want to say that I have nothing but respect for the Mets organization and I enjoyed connecting with all my teammates this season … new and old!!” It truly was a wonderful group of people,” Verlander posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“That being said, we all know the success of a team is made up of more than just the players on the field, everyone’s input is valuable. I’m sorry to hear that a staff member took offense to constructive criticism on how we could improve.
“Wishing nothing but the best for the Mets moving forward.”
Verlander, 40, signed a two-year deal with the Mets worth $86 million in December after winning his second World Series with the Astros.
He was traded back to Houston in exchange for outfield prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford.
Elsewhere in Puma’s report, it was alleged Verander complained about how the team’s analytics department wasn’t up to par with the Astros’.
Further, Verlander’s attitude led to then-Mets ace Max Scherzer “grousing” about his former cohort, according to the report.
Scherzer and Verlander had previously been teammates on the Tigers.
Much like Verlander, Scherzer was also traded before the deadline, landing with the Rangers in exchange for infielder Luisangel Acuña, the brother of Ronald Acuña, the NL MVP favorite on the Braves.
Despite coming into the season with the highest payroll in MLB, the Mets are a disappointing 53-65, a whopping 22.5 games behind the Braves in the NL East.
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