Mets Sign Verlander to $86.6 Million Two-Year Deal

By Chris Gray

Photo by Juan DeLeon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

December 5, 2022

The New York Mets are in agreement to sign Justin Verlander to an $86.6 million two-year deal, pending a physical. The deal comes with a $35 million vesting option. Verlander won his third American League Cy Young Award last season – and his second in four seasons. In addition, he earned his ninth All-Star nod when he pitched to a 1.75 ERA in 175 innings. Verlander’s WHIP was 0.829 while striking out 9.5 batters per nine innings. His walks per nine innings were 1.5 and his home runs per nine innings were 0.6. Verlander is remaining productive in the later stages of his career. The 2023 season will mark the righty’s 18th season in the big leagues and he will be 40 years of age.

The Mets have been spending a lot of money on pitching of late. Last season, they signed Max Scherzer to a two-year deal for $86.67 million. Now the Mets sign Verlander to a similar deal. Interestingly, both pitchers are also pushing 40. Scherzer will turn 39 next season. The Verlander signing comes on the heels of former Mets star Jacob deGrom signing a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers. But with incentives for performance and health, deGrom’s contract could reach as high as six years and $222 million with the Rangers. With deGrom’s contract reaching as high as $37 million per year, it seems unlikely that the average amount per year was the underlying factor for the Mets allowing deGrom to walk away. deGrom will be 35 years old next season.

Mets Rotation After Verlander Signing

Justin Verlander will join Scherzer at the front of the Mets rotation. Additionally, the Mets have Carlos Carrasco, Joey Lucchesi, Tylor Megill, and Elieser Hernandez to fill out the rotation. But Carrasco is the bona fide veteran starting pitcher on that list. Megill and Hernandez have yet to throw over 100 innings in an MLB season. Lucchesi has thrown over 100 innings twice, but not since 2019 – and he spent last season in the minors. So, the question for the Mets is whether they are content with signing Verlander or if they are potentially eyeing more moves at this season’s Winter Meetings.

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Chris Gray

Chris is a writer, philosopher, and web developer. He is currently the Web Developer and a Contributing Editor for Sport Relay.

When Chris was young, he played Little League Baseball for years. In addition, he used to look at the statistics on baseball cards to compare the different players and trade the cards with his friends. As a teenager, he worked as a Computer Technician until he landed a position as a Network Administrator at a middle school in Los Angeles, California.

Feeling unfulfilled with a lack of education to combine with his work and life experience, he returned to school, obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from UCLA, and now spends his time writing, investing, thinking, programming, and enjoying baseball.