Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander and the San Francisco Giants agree on a one-year contract through 2025. The deal is worth $15 million and pending the following a physical examination, ESPN Reports.
Verlander, who turns 42 in February, will enter his 20th MLB season. He is coming off an injury-compromised 2024 campaign for the Houston Astros in which he pitched to a 5.48 ERA in 17 starts and 90 1/3 innings. His start to the 2024 season was delayed by a shoulder injury that occurred late in spring training, then he missed several weeks starting in mid-June with lingering neck discomfort.
While a steep decline is of course a possibility at Verlander’s age, he has a recent history of success. In 2023, he had a 3.22 ERA in 27 combined starts for the New York Mets and Astros. In 2022, he won his third American League Cy Young Award, going 18-4 with an MLB-leading 1.75 ERA for Houston. Overall, Verlander over the last three seasons has a 129 ERA+ and a 3.49 FIP in 427 2/3 innings.
He will enter the 2025 season with 262 career wins and a WAR of 81.0, and he is closing in on 3,500 career strikeouts – a number only nine other MLB pitchers have reached. Add in his eight All-Star selections and the aforementioned trio of Cy Youngs, and Verlander may be the greatest pitcher of his generation. This will undoubtedly be reflected when he is one day elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, surely on the first ballot.
For now, though, Verlander will focus on creating a renaissance season with a Giants team that is coming off a second straight losing season and third straight season without a playoff berth. Verlander will be counted on to stabilize the back end of a San Francisco rotation that also includes Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. The Verlander deal is the second notable offseason addition made by new Giants decision-maker Buster Posey. Posey and Giants earlier in the winter signed shortstop Willy Adames to a pact of $182 million over seven years.
The Giants will be the fourth MLB team Verlander has pitched for, and his third in three seasons.
