Tigers agree to terms with Justin Verlander on five-year contract extension
Five-Time All-Star’s deal through the 2019 season with a vesting option for 2020
DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers today announced the club has agreed to terms with righthanded pitcher Justin Verlander on a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season with a vesting option for the 2020 season.
Verlander, 30, compiled a 17-8 record, 2.64 ERA (238.1IP/70ER) and 239 strikeouts in 33 starts with the Tigers during the 2012 season. He topped the American League with six complete games, 238.1 innings pitched and 239 strikeouts, while he finished second with a 2.64 ERA, .217 batting average against, 7.25 hits per nine innings and 3.98 strikeouts per walk, tied for third with 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings and tied for fourth with 17 wins.
“Justin is one of the premier pitchers in baseball and we are thrilled to keep him in a Tigers uniform for many years to come,” Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. “Justin has been a Tiger for his entire career and he is on pace to be one of the greatest pitchers in this illustrious franchise’s history.”
A five-time American League all-star selection (2007, 2009-12), Verlander has posted a 124-65 record, 3.40 ERA (1,553.2IP/587ER) and 1,454 strikeouts in 232 starts during his major league career. Detroit’s first-round selection in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in 2004, he is currently fifth all-time in club history with 1,454 strikeouts and 10th with 124 wins.
Verlander was selected the American League Most Valuable Player and unanimously selected the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2011. He became the 10th pitcher in major league history to win both the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards during the same season, joining Don Newcombe (1956), Sandy Koufax (1963), Bob Gibson (1968), Denny McLain (1968), Vida Blue (1971), Rollie Fingers (1981), Guillermo Hernandez (1984), Roger Clemens (1986) and Dennis Eckersley (1992).
He was selected the American League Rookie of the Year with the Tigers in 2006. Verlander joined Don Newcombe to become only the second player in history to win the Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year Awards. Newcombe was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1949 and he earned both the National League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards in 1956.