Holy freaking cow, folks. JV is coming home. Eight and a half years since the Detroit Tigers traded franchise legend Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros on August 31, 2017, the three-time Cy Young award winner returns to the Tigers on a one-year deal.
We absolutely did not see this coming. First reaction is that Reese Olson or another starter must be bound to miss part of the season. It really did not seem like they had a need for a veteran starter otherwise. Instead, they have inked Verlander to a $13 million deal for 2026 with $11 million of it deferred in payments to begin in 2030, according to Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic Detroit.
Jeff Passan of ESPN also notes in his post on the Verlander signing that the long-time Tigers ace will wear their hat when he’s ultimately inducted into the Hall of Fame. Suddenly there appears to be a concern with franchise legacy from ownership, and we’re here for it. The deal offers the Tigers a lot of flexibility since they won’t be paying much of it for several years to come. It really feels like the club needed starting depth, and decided to lock up Verlander as an all-time Tiger for one more go-around, without putting themselves in too much of a jam if things don’t go well.
Verlander will rejoin both A.J. Hinch as well as Framber Valdez, so there’s plenty of familiarity beyond the obvious fact that he’s arguably the greatest pitcher in the franchise’s history.
After a tough first half with the San Francisco Giants in 2025, few teams came calling for his services at the trade deadline. That was a mistake, as he put up a 2.99 ERA and 3.47 FIP in the second half, pitching pretty well despite the strikeout touch remaining lighter than in his prime. Even so, the last of the true workhorse aces averaged 93.9 mph with his fourseamer last year, and still has a plus slider and good curveball to work with, while learning to mix in a changeup a bit more to lefties as a change of pace. He also developed a slurve last year that became a pretty good pitch for him and was taking over from the more standard 12-6 curve down the stretch.
Verlander was famously drafted second overall in the 2004 amateur draft after the San Diego Padres drafted Matt Bush. He would go on to win the 2006 Rookie of the Year award, before sweeping the Cy and the American League MVP award in 2011. Since leaving for Houston, Verlander won a World Series in 2017, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020, and then returned from surgery at age 39 to win his third AL Cy Young in 2022, along with his second World Series ring with the Astros.
He’s lived a whole career for most players since leaving Detroit. While we can argue about who is the best pitcher of the last two decades, Verlander stands above the rest as the most valuable, with 3553 strikeouts to his credit and a career 266-158 record over 20 full seasons as a major leaguer. Now, 10 days shy of his 43rd birthday, he’ll return to the place it all began.
