*This is a prediction*
It’s not often that you see pitchers still playing at 42 years old, but Justin Verlander isn’t most pitchers. While Verlander’s age makes things a bit more complicated, the Baltimore Orioles should absolutely be interested in the veteran.
Typically, with pitchers this old, the only reason for adding them to a roster is for their name value. That’s absolutely not the case with Verlander.
While it’s not often we see pitchers come close to what Verlander is doing, maybe this shouldn’t be as big a surprise. Verlander is one of the best pitchers of all time, and he’s been dominating the MLB for years now.
Of course, Verlander isn’t anywhere close to the same pitcher that he was when he won an MVP in 2011, but his production is still worthy of being in a starting MLB rotation. Here’s why his next stop should be with the Orioles.
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Justin Verlander Joining Baltimore Orioles in MLB Free Agency
Earlier in the free agency period, we talked about Verlander, and my initial prediction was the Atlanta Braves. While that’s still a fit that makes sense, the Orioles make a ton of sense as well after doing the research for this article.
That initial article regarding Verlander’s possible fit with the Braves explains how productive he’s been recently.
“it’s clear that Verlander wasn’t a bad pitcher by any means in 2025…When looking at Verlander’s Baseball Savant Page, he was in the 39th percentile for his Pitching Run Value. This was accompanied by Verlander’s 30th percentile Fastball Run Value, 44th percentile Breaking Run Value, but a 75th percentile Offspeed Run Value.”
From a box score perspective, Verlander had a really good year as well with a 3.85 ERA, 1.2 WAR, and a 1.362 WHIP.
How Justin Verlander Fits in Baltimore
The first question that is going to eliminate a number of teams from even making sense for Verlander is whether they’re contenders. At 42 years old, it just doesn’t make sense for Verlander to spend the last few years of his career (we’re nearing the end, right?) with a non-competitive team.
On the surface, the Orioles don’t look like they would fit that mold. Only winning 75 games isn’t great, but this was just a massive down year for this roster. There’s still a ton of talent in Baltimore.
That’s not to completely excuse everything and say the Orioles are going to win the World Series next year. At the same time, after the 2024 season, the Orioles were in serious World Series talks after winning 91 games with a young core.
At this point in Verlander’s carrer he’s a back half of the rotation kind of pitcher. Per Fangraphs, Cade Povich is projected to be the Orioles’ fifth starter next year, and Verlander would be an upgrade over the 25-year-old.
That’s not to say Povich can’t be in the Orioles’ future plans, but Verlander would be a better player to help the team win in 2026.
Justin Verlander Contract
Last year, Verlander was on a one-year, $15 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, which seemed like a very fair deal. Expect Verlander to sign another one-year deal wherever he goes next.
For the reasons outlined above, the next stop for Justin Verlander should be the Baltimore Orioles.