Verlander re-signing with Astros on reported 1-year, $25M deal
Justin Verlander is re-signing with the Houston Astros, his brother Ben tweeted Wednesday.
🚨IT’S OFFICIAL🚨@JustinVerlander is signing with Houston Astros!!
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) November 17, 2021
Verlander's new deal is for one year at $25 million and includes a player option for 2023, a source told Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. The option is worth another $25 million, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.
The player option in Verlander’s one-year, $25M free-agent contract with the Astros, per @MarkBermanFox26, effectively will make it a two-year guarantee. Verlander has a home in West Palm Beach, FL, where the Astros train in the spring.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 17, 2021
Verlander, who rejected the Astros' qualifying offer earlier Wednesday, missed the entire 2021 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Now fully healthy, he threw in front of teams earlier this month, accelerating his free-agent market.
The New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox were among teams reportedly interested in the 2011 AL MVP before he chose to stay in Houston.
The Astros initially acquired Verlander from the Detroit Tigers at the 2017 waiver trade deadline. He turned in a stellar postseason performance that year, being named ALCS MVP en route to the Astros' World Series title, then won his second AL Cy Young in 2019.