Justin Verlander has signed a one year deal with the Detroit Tigers, the team announced today. Reports indicate that the deal is for $13 million, with $10 million of that being deferred payments that begin in 2030.
Verlander is returning to the team that originally selected him second overall in the 2004 Draft, and for whom he has had his best seasons. Verlander won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2006 for the Tigers, as well as winning the Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award in 2011. Sadly for Verlander, his Tigers got knocked out in the ALCS in 2011 by a team whose identity I can’t recall, with Verlander giving up 7 runs in 11.1 IP in two starts in that ALCS series.
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While with the Tigers, Verlander also had a pair of second place Cy Young finishes, a third place finish, and a fifth place finish. His 24 wins in 2011 tie him with Randy Johnson in 2002 for the most wins in a single season by a pitcher in the 21st century. He was traded to the Houston Astros in 2017, and ended up finishing fifth in the Cy Young balloting that year, while also winning a ring in the trash can banging World Series. Verlander won another ring with Houston in 2022, won finished second in the Cy Young voting in 2018, and won his second and third CYAs in 2019 and 2022, with the 2022 campaign coming after he missed all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery.
Verlander joined the New York Mets in 2023, but was traded to the Astros at the deadline. Verlander once again made it to the ALCS that year, only to see the Astros get knocked out in memorable fashion against a team I can’t remember. After putting up a 5.48 ERA in 17 starts for Houston in 2024, Verlander joined the San Francisco Giants in 2025, putting up a 3.85 ERA and 3.85 FIP in 152 innings over 29 starts.
Verlander spent too much time with the Astros for me to have warm fuzzies about him, but he’s an inner-circle Hall of Famer, one of the all time greats, and his returning to his original club for what may be his final season is pretty cool.