Justin Verlander Returning To Former Team

Three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Detroit Tigers, his former team for the majority of his first 20 seasons, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Tuesday (February 10).

"Right-hander Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers are in agreement on a one-year contract. Verlander, 43 next week, returns to the team with which he spent his first 13 seasons and whose hat he'll wear in the Hall of Fame," Passan wrote.

Verlander spent his first 13 seasons with the Tigers prior to being traded to the Houston Astros midway through the 2017 season. The right-hander is one of the most decorated pitchers in MLB history, having his first of three American League Cy Young Awards and the American League MVP award when he won the pitching Triple Crown in 2011.

Verlander is also a nine-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion with the Astros, a two-time All-MLB First Team selection, the 2006 American League Rookie of the Year, the 2017 ALCS MVP and the 2022 American League Comeback Player of the Year, having led the American League in wins four times, ERA twice and strikeouts five times, as well as pitching three no-hitters in 2007, 2011 and 2019 and recording an MLB record 244 postseason strikeouts.

Verlander went 4-11 with a 3.85 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 29 starts during his lone season with the San Francisco Giants in 2025. The Tigers went 87-75 during the 2025 MLB season, making the postseason as a Wild Card team before being eliminated by the Seattle Mariners in the American League Division Series.