Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers have reached agreement on a new contract that could exceed $202 million, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney.
Verlander's deal, which would make him the highest-paid pitcher in the game, is for seven years and worth $180 million. A vesting option for an eighth year could push the deal to $202 million.
"I love this city & the fans -- couldn't be more excited to spend my career here! We're going to bring a World Series to Detroit!!!" Verlander tweeted.
The Tigers announced they reached a five-year deal with Verlander.
In February, Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners signed a seven-year contract worth $175 million, the top deal for a pitcher at the time.
Verlander Verlander, who would have been eligible to become a free agent after the 2014 season, had recently said he wouldn't discuss a new contract if a deal didn't get done by the end of spring training. The right-hander had $40 million and two years left on an $80 million contract.
Verlander, 30, has been baseball's most dominant pitcher over the last four seasons, leading the league in innings and strikeouts three times, wins twice and ERA once. He went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 striikeouts in 2011 when he won both the Cy Young Award and MVP.
Last season, Verlander went 17-8 with a 2.64 ERA, finishing second in Cy Young voting to David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. With Verlander as their anchor, the Tigers reached the World Series last season for the second time since 2006.
Buster Olney covers Major League Baseball for ESPN The Magazine.
2. "glad he's here but in 2018 that shit is gonna be a pain in the ass" In response to Reply # 0
given that the tigers extended him at a 50% raise halfway thru his existing contract, i wonder if he'll be restructuring when he turns 35 and is worth half of that $$$...
17. "It's worth it. It's only 5 mil more than Felix, JV is WAY better." In response to Reply # 2
He could have waited until next year and gotten much more either from us or definitely on the open market. The fact that it's only 5 million more than Felix's contract means it's not some outlandish amount that will outpace inflation in salaries...by 2018 or 2019 that amount may be more than reasonable for a pitcher at his level and age.
The bottom line is that the plan is for us to win a chip by then. If we don't win a chip then we can second guess EVERY decision that was made.
21. "JV is not just a power pitcher though. Dude has four pitches..." In response to Reply # 20
and that right there is something that will make him still very productive well after the fastball is gone. It's very reasonable to expect him to still be at an all-star level at 37.
22. "thats a debatable claim at best" In response to Reply # 21
against LHH his throws his slider and sinker a combined 1% of the time, making him effectively a 3 pitch pitcher throwing 61% fastballs, 17% curveballs, and 21% changeups
against RHH its a little more diverse with 59% fastballs, 12% sliders, 20% curveballs, and 8% changeups. most of those changeups come when he's ahead in the count so its kind of tied to context
hes more like a 2 pitch pitcher with a flex spot depending on the hitter
dont get me wrong, JV is the best there is, im not debating that.
but the money is too much for too long, and when his fastball starts to fade, that deal is gonna be an albatross.
25. "Everything is debatable. But I don't think his current percentages" In response to Reply # 22 Fri Mar-29-13 02:23 PM by soulfunk
are an indication of how strong each of his pitches is. Right now he has one of the best fastballs in the game, and he places it well. If he loses velocity on the fastball, his other pitches are strong enough that he would use them more, and that along with the placement of his fastball should keep him productive. I'm not saying he'd still be winning Cy Youngs. But he shouldn't fall off the charts by 37.
Yes it's debatable. But like I mentioned, the bottom line is that if in that time we make a few deep playoff runs and win at least one chip, it's all worth it. We'd be overpaying him for a couple years at most after he would have been with us since 2006 and been the best pitcher in the game for a good chunk of that. Throw in a chip and I don't think that much money is crazy at all.
30. "Of course. But to be honest, you should be more worried about" In response to Reply # 28
Prince's contract being a problem years down the road than JV's. As soon as we signed Prince for that much it became clear that the goal was to get a chip within the new 4-5 years and anything less than that is a failure.
18. "What do we think about the closer by committee situation?" In response to Reply # 0
Someone is gonna have to stand out and take that job, or we'll need to get someone at the trade deadline. No way I trust Leyland's instincts day in and day out to be picking the rights guy to close.
56. "I was with you on this last year when Francona was available and" In response to Reply # 55
before Leyland made it to his second World Series with us. But at this point I don't know who out there would be better, so I just keep my mouth shut when he does stupid things like use Don Kelly as a pinch hitter when Dirks is available right there on the bench.
66. "Bullpen addressed, we good to go?" In response to Reply # 0
Tigers acquired RHP Jose Veras from the Astros for OF Danry Vasquez and a player to be named later. Veras, 32, had a cool 2.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 44/14 K/BB ratio in 43 innings this year with Houston and could get a shot at saves in Detroit if Joaquin Benoit has some hiccups. Veras is earning $1.85 million this season and carries a $3.25 million team option for 2014. Vasquez, a 19-year-old from Venezuela, was batting .281/.333/.390 with five home runs and nine steals through 96 games this year for Low-A West Michigan.
69. "Are the Angels shopping?" In response to Reply # 67
That'd be pretty good for Detroit, but Anaheim an organization which has invested big cash in their sense of denial.
I haven't been staying up on the hot rumors though.
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73. "Three time division champs. Thoughts on the playoffs?" In response to Reply # 0
Got some interesting storylines/issues going into the playoffs...Verlander doesn't look like Verlander right now. Miggy is hurt and not playing like Miggy. Jhonny is supposed to be back on Friday, in left field? Rondon is hurt.
75. "Verlander's actually been pretty good the last two months" In response to Reply # 73
Maybe not 2011 JV, but good nonetheless. I'm not too worried about him, or the starting staff at all. We need to hit, and obviously that starts with Cabrera. Shut him down, pinch hit here or there, but we need him to get as close to right as possible. The Peralta thing will be very interesting.
I literally gave up on this team a couple years ago and had no idea until the last two weeks that we were playing meaningful games. Plus I don’t listen to local sports radio any more so I’m in a bit of a bubble. This is wild.
I need a TLDR for this entire season - I don’t even know the players anymore. Somehow Skubal is in the running for a triple crown?????
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