Justin Verlander Signs Extension with Detroit Tigers
According to FOXSports.com, the Detroit Tigers have signed staff ace Justin Verlander to a five-year, $80 million contract. The deal cancels out Verlander’s remaining two years of arbitration plus three free agent years.
Verlander became a rich man on Wed.
Verlander will be 27 in two weeks, so the Tigers should have Verlander throughout his prime years. The Tigers have handed out some pretty awful long-term contracts recently (Magglio Ordonez, Nate Robertson, etc), but this deal should be very much worth it for Detroit.
Since being taken with the second overall pick in the 2004 draft, Verlander has been everything the Tigers hoped he would be. In his four full years in the majors, Verlander has been a flat-out stud for three of those years.
Take out his 2008 season when he went 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP and Verlander has gone 54-24 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. That is pretty awesome.
Like Hernandez, Verlander’s extension comes on the heals of a career year in 2009. Verlander led the American League in starts, innings, batters faced, strikeouts, and wins last season. He also led all pitchers in pitches thrown with 3,937, which might be a little concerning for 2010, but I don’t think it will have any long-term effects going forward.
What I find interesting about this deal is that Verlander got $2 million dollars more than what Hernandez got. You know that was a power play move by his agents over at SFX. They had to get more for Verlander than what Hernandez’s agent for him.
Oh and by the way, the guy who beat out Hernandez and Verlander for the CY Young award in 2009, Zack Greinke? Don’t feel bad for him. He didn’t miss the boat on signing a contract.
Greinke signed a four-year, $38 million contract extension last January.
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