Justin Verlander signs two-year deal with Mets

Justin Verlander signs two-year deal with Mets

The New York Mets and reigning AL Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander agreed to a two-year, $86 million deal, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman were first to report Monday.

Right-hander Justin Verlander and the New York Mets are in agreement on a contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 5, 2022

Heyman was first with the details on the contract; per Heyman, the $86 million deal includes a vesting option for a third year.

Verlander to Mets. $86M 2 years. Vesting option 3rd year.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 5, 2022

This comes nearly 72 hours after former Mets ace Jacob deGrom, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball when healthy, inked a five-year deal with the Texas Rangers. While this signing carries a reasonable amount of risk (more on that below), Verlander, who turns 40-years-old next February, isn’t the worst consolation prize.

The unanimous 2022 AL Cy Young award winner — the third of his career — had arguably his best season, helping lead the Houston Astros to their second-ever World Series title. He led baseball in ERA (1.75), ERA+ (220) and WHIP (0.829), while leading qualified AL starters in xERA (2.66) and fWAR (6.1).

Verlander re-unites with Max Scherzer, another three-time Cy Young award winner, to spearhead the top of the Mets rotation. Scherzer and Verlander now own the highest average annual values for a single player in MLB History at $43.3 and $43.0 million, respectively.

Highest AAV in MLB history

Max Scherzer $43.3M
Justin Verlander $43.0M*
Jacob deGrom $37.0M

*per multiple reports pic.twitter.com/FTjbBQPzdY

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 5, 2022

There’s obviously a risk factor for that; for starters (no pun intended), Scherzer is 38 and Verlander is 39. Both have combined for over 900 starts and 5,800 innings in their respective MLB careers. That’s a lot of mileage.

That said, when both are healthy, they’re two of the best arms in baseball. They’re both battle-tested and capable of ace-like production that would be incredibly daunting to face in a short-series. It’s a lethal 1-2 punch and might be as good as you can do — in the short-term — at the top of any rotation if deGrom’s not there.

deGrom hasn’t pitched a full season since 2020, a COVID-shortened season when he was only able to make 12 starts. He’s only made 26 combined starts since the start of the 2021 season, due to injury. Verlander, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John Surgery in 2020 and missed the entirety of the 2021 season, but made 28 starts alone last season. While injuries are unpredictable, Verlander *might* be a better bet to stay healthy at this stage of his career — even at 39.

Again, if you won’t go more than three years for deGrom, going two — with the possibility of three — years for Verlander isn’t the worst option. But let’s see if — and possibly how — their brain trust spends additional money to put them over the top entering 2023.

This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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