Justin Verlander, the oldest man in the major leagues, is about to resume his long-shot quest for 300 wins.
He has agreed to a one-year, $15 million deal with the San Francisco Giants and will play on the West Coast for the first time at age 42 assuming team doctors clear him.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner needs to average 19 wins over the next two seasons to join the 300 Club, which has not added to its membership since Randy Johnson joined in 2009.
Only 24 pitchers in baseball history have won that many games. Verlander, with 262, has more victories than any active pitcher.
Back to Good Health
The right-hander is hoping to rebound from an injury-riddled season. Shoulder and neck issues limited him to 17 starts, with a resulting 5.48 earned run average. He admitted after the season that he tried to come back too soon.
The author of two no-hitters, Verlander won his last Cy Young trophy only three years ago – at age 39. He’ll join a solid San Francisco rotation that also includes Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Kyle Harrison, and converted reliever Jordan Hicks. But the staff will miss Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who jumped to the Los Angeles Dodgers via free agency.
The 6’5″ right-hander from Virginia is a nine-time All-Star and two-time world champion who has won MVP awards for both the regular season and the American League Championship Series. He’ll be entering his 20th season with a .641 winning percentage and 3.30 earned run average.
No longer the top man on the staff, Justin Verlander hopes he’ll bolster the San Francisco staff at … [+]
He did his best work during two stints, spread over seven seasons, with the Houston Astros, posting a 73-28 record and 2.71 ERA in Houston livery.
Verlander began his career with the Detroit Tigers in 2005 but also spent a year with the New York Mets, who signed him to a contract that paid him $43.3 million per year, tied with Max Scherzer for the highest annual average ever awarded to a pitcher.
Two New Giants
New Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey has now signed two top free agents, with Verlander joining slugging shortstop Willy Adames, signed for seven years at $182 million.
According to Roster Resource, San Francisco’s projected payroll of $223 million is roughly $20 million less than the $241 base luxury tax threshold.
San Francisco seeks to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 campaign that left it fourth in the National League West, 18 games behind the first-place Dodgers and nine behind the third-place Arizona Diamondbacks.
The first media member to report the signing was Jeff Passan of ESPN. Terms were later revealed by the network’s Jesse Rogers.
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