The Detroit Tigers have extended the contract of Justin Verlander for another five years, keeping him in Detroit at least through 2019, and perhaps longer.
Tigers & @justinverlander agree to 5-year contract extension thru 2019 w/ vesting option for 2020. #tigers
— Brian Britten (@BBritten_Tigers) March 29, 2013
It was tweeted earlier this afternoon by Buster Olney that something big was stirring in baseball.
Hearing rumblings of major news… More to come.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 29, 2013
And lo, big news indeed. Verlander agreed to a five year extension worth $140MM, likely keeping him in Detroit for the duration of his career. As Olney noted, Verlander could earn a total of $202MM under his new contract, including this year, in which he’s owed $20MM.
The extension will keep Verlander in Detroit through 2019, by which point he will be 37 years of age.
In his 8 seasons with Detroit, Verlander has a wins-loss record of 124-65, with a 3.40 ERA. He is a five-time All-Star, and took hom the 2011 AL Cy Young Award.
Verlander weighed in on the deal with the following tweet.
I love this city & the fans – couldn’t be more excited to spend my career here! We’re going to bring a World Series to Detroit!!!
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) March 29, 2013
The Tigers have written incentives into the deal that could keep him in Detroit through the 2020 season, should he meet the requirements.
The signing puts Verlander’s average salary for the next seven years to somewhere around $25MM.
