{"id":501220,"date":"2026-01-01T03:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T03:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/501220\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T03:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T03:38:18","slug":"justin-verlander-gets-bad-free-agency-update-amid-mlb-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/501220\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Verlander Gets Bad Free Agency Update Amid MLB Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco Giants<\/a> are reportedly trying to finalize a deal with veteran starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, which could have a significant impact on future Hall of Fame ace Justin Verlander<\/a>\u2019s 2026 plans.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Chronicle\u2019s Shayna Rubin shared<\/a> that Mahle, who owns a career 4.07 ERA, is expected to sign a one-year contract with the Giants. Although he recorded a 2.18 ERA in 86\u2154 innings for the Texas Rangers<\/a> last year, he has an extensive injury history; Mahle has not pitched at least 100 innings in a season since 2022.<\/p>\n

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Financial terms of Mahle\u2019s contract were not immediately available. However, he will likely earn a spot in the Giants\u2019 Opening Day rotation barring another injury.<\/p>\n

The Giants\u2019 decision to add Mahle is bad news for Verlander, who turns 43 in February and has repeatedly insisted he wants to pitch next year. Despite beginning the 2025 campaign with a 0-7 record and a 4.70 ERA in his first 15 starts, Verlander rebounded to post a 2.99 ERA in the second half.<\/p>\n

Justin Verlander Hadn\u2019t Ruled Out Returning to the Giants in 2026\"San<\/p>\n

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Justin VerlanderDarren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Verlander finished his first \u2014 and potentially only \u2014 season with the Giants by allowing two runs over six innings in a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies<\/a> on Sept. 27. Speaking with reporters after the game, Verlander said he would definitely consider returning to the Giants if given the opportunity.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI really enjoyed the guys here,” Verlander said<\/a>. “Obviously, it\u2019s a tough season personally. But as far as an organization and the guys I got to play with here, it was so classy. Off the field and in the locker room, it was one of the more fun seasons I\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although a reunion isn\u2019t officially out of the question, Mahle\u2019s impending arrival makes it difficult to imagine the Giants investing in Verlander once again.<\/p>\n

The No. 2 pick in 2004, Verlander is 266-158 with a 3.32 ERA and 3,553 strikeouts in 555 career starts. He is a three-time Cy Young winner, two-time World Series champion, and won the 2011 MVP Award while pitching for the Detroit Tigers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Although Verlander almost certainly won\u2019t reach 300 wins, he is only four victories away from becoming the 35th pitcher to reach 270 wins. Verlander and his former teammate, Max Scherzer, are the only active pitchers with at least 200 wins following Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> legend Clayton Kershaw\u2019s retirement.<\/p>\n

Scherzer, who turned 41 last July, has also reiterated that he\u2019d like to continue pitching. The three-time Cy Young winner battled a thumb injury and posted a 5.19 ERA in 85 innings for the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> last season, though he had a 3.77 ERA over three playoff starts.<\/p>\n

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Verlander\u2019s 81.7 bWAR leads all active pitchers and trails only Los Angeles Angels<\/a> outfielder Mike Trout<\/a> (87.5) among active players. Scherzer is third with 75.6 bWAR, and Dodgers teammates Mookie Betts<\/a> (75.2) and Freddie Freeman<\/a> (64.2) round out the top five.<\/p>\n

Related: Alex Rodriguez\u2019s Hall of Fame Progress Is Quickly Accelerating Ahead of 2026 Election<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Anthony Volpe Injury Update Emerges Amid Yankees Offseason<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Dec 31, 2025, where it first appeared in the MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco Giants are reportedly trying to finalize a deal with veteran starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,1147,52,53,815,388,56,57,381,603,4,1526,66,69,852,70,91],"class_list":{"0":"post-501220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-clayton-kershaw","10":"tag-colorado-rockies","11":"tag-detroit-tigers","12":"tag-freddie-freeman","13":"tag-justin-verlander","14":"tag-los-angeles-angels","15":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","16":"tag-max-scherzer","17":"tag-mike-trout","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-mookie-betts","20":"tag-san-francisco-giants","21":"tag-texas-rangers","22":"tag-the-giants","23":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","24":"tag-tyler-mahle"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115817762816158135","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}