Tomorrow, Monday, February 2nd, will mark three months since Verlander became a free agent after leaving the Giants. His agents, ISE Baseball, have tried to sign him for one season for $15 million, the same amount he earned in 2025. His highest salary was $43 million annually, and in his 20 seasons, he has earned $419,181,666.
Verlander, who turns 43 on the 20th of this month, has pitched for the Astros, Tigers, and Mets, in addition to the Giants. And he can already start parodying what Leroy (Satchel) Paige said when, at 46, he pitched in the 1952 All-Star Game at Shibe Park in Philadelphia: “Maybe I’ll pitch forever.”
Verlander was interviewed three days ago and, among other things, said:
“I not only want to, but I need to keep pitching. I want to because I love baseball like it’s part of my family. And I need to because I won’t find anything to do every day in the spring and summer when I’m going to the stadium.”
Verlander was born to be a pitcher
In his childhood in Goochland, Virginia, where he was born, Justin Verlander was the best little ballplayer. He played well at any position, but what he loved most was pitching.
This happened between 1993 and 1995, when Justin was finishing elementary school. Once in high school, the manager decided to use him only as a pitcher. And that's when the scouts started following him.
Justin's father, named Richard, decided to accompany the boy's admission to Old Dominion University with his admission to The Richmond Baseball Academy as well.
The progress amazed the scouts who followed him.
As is customary in these cases, several scouts learned of a young pitcher whose velocity had been clocked at 84 miles per hour upon entering the Academy, but as soon as he entered the University, he had raised it to 87, which they considered remarkable. During his three years of college, he was so dominant that he set the record at that level with 427 strikeouts in 334.2 innings, equal to 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings. His ERA was 2.57.
Of course, the scouts' report sparked interest from several teams in signing such a prospect, who on May 7, 2002, struck out 17 batters in one game, a record in the student category, which still stands.
And the time came to find out if such quality was true.
The Tigers were loaded with data on Justin's history and prepared to select him very early in the 2004 draft, which they did.
He received a bonus of $3.12 million, a very high amount at the time. He was sent to the Lakeland Tigers in Florida. Now, what were his prospects in Detroit? They called him up to start only two games, his debut against the Dobos Indians on July 4, 2025. He lost both games, but pitched 11.1 innings and struck out seven. Then they sent him back down to the minors, this time to Double-A, to the Erie Sea Wolves in Pennsylvania.
As early as 2026, he was deemed ready to occupy a spot in the big league team's rotation. He was paid a rookie salary of $980 for the season. His numbers that year were 17-9, with a 3.63 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 186 innings.
The big leaguer was better than expected
Verlander's years on each team: Tigers, 2017-2025; Astros, 2022-2027; Mets, 2023; Astros again, 2023-2024; Giants, 2025.
The only injury he has suffered kept him out of action for the entire 2021 season, when he was with the Astros. Therefore, he has pitched in 20 seasons over his 21 years.
In 2006, Verlander was the American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. He also won the Cy Young Award, which he won again in 2007, 2009, and 2011. He was selected to the All-Star Games in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. And he pitched in the World Series in 2017 and 2022.
Thanks to the life that has given me so much, even a reader like you.
The year numbers are wrong after the 10th paragraph; I imagine that for 2026 it should have been 1996.