Justin Verlander's SF Giants jersey number is now official

UPDATE: Verlander will now officially wear No. 35 with the Giants. This article was written before an official announcement was made.

The SF Giants signed veteran starting pitcher Justin Verlander earlier this offseason to shore up their starting rotation. However, signing him caused a bit of a stir because his jersey number, 35, is the same as franchise legend Brandon Crawford.

In Verlander's introductory press conference he was asked about this issue and he gave athoughtful response. He said that he wanted to speak with Crawford about it before making an ultimate decision, even though Crawford gave his blessing via a phone call with Buster Posey after the signing, but also said he would be honored to wear the number he has worn practically his whole career for a franchise as storied as the Giants.

Justin Verlander seems likely to wear No. 35 with SF Giants

While there has not been any official announcement yet or any photograph of Verlander's jersey, if one visits the official website of the Giants, Verlander's number is indeed listed as 35. If one goes to the team's 40-man roster page, you will see that the number 35 is listed next to his name. Then if you click on his profile he is also listed as No. 35.

Again, nothing is official yet, but it sure does seem like Verlander is going to wear No. 35 for the Giants. Perhaps a more official announcement will come shortly with pitchers and catcher reporting on February 12th.

While a lot of fans may not care that much about what number a player wears so long as he performs well, Verlander wearing 35 will rub some people the wrong way even if Crawford himself says he is okay with it. Many Giants fans will forever associate Crawford with that number so to see another player wear it, no matter how impressive the pedigree, could feel like a slap in the face.

There is also some potential awkwardness at play given the fact that there is a chance Verlander could be the starting pitcher on April 26th which is a game honoring Crawford after he retired from baseball earlier this offseason.

Nonetheless, Verlander's reputation precedes him and he has earned the right to wear his own number based on his Hall of Fame career. Plus, it seems quite likely that Verlander will only spend one year with the Giants. This may be a situation like when the Giants traded for Andrew McCutchen and he wore No. 22, the number of Giants legend Will Clark that has since been retired, in 2018 for a few short months before he was traded to the New York Yankees.

If Verlander does indeed wear 35, it will ruffle some feathers but ultimately it is not that huge of a deal especially since Crawford seems to be okay with it. Surely, when it gets announced on social media there will be nothing but mature and reasoned thoughts on the matter.