Justin Verlander has agreed to a two-year deal with the New York Mets, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday. With an average annual value (AAV) of $43.33 million, Verlander’s contract equals the current record for the highest AAV.
The contract is also believed to include a third-year vesting option for 2025 worth $35 million.
Verlander returned from Tommy John surgery which ruled him out of the previous season to help the Houston Astros to lift the 2022 World Series trophy. This feat saw Verlander win his third Cy Young Award; making him the first person to win the prize after not pitching for the entire previous season.
“We still have to find that guy that does what Verlander did for us,” Astros manager Dusty Baker commented following Verlander’s departure. “On the days that he pitched, I could go full bullpen before he pitched and I could go full bullpen after he pitched, and that’s something that the real horses … If you want to be a horse, then you not only pitch on the days that you’re supposed to pitch, but you make it easier on the day before and after you pitch. That preserves your bullpen, big time.”
