The Detroit Tigers need pitching.
There's one pitcher on the free agent market that Detroit knows as well as anyone.
What more is there to wonder about?
MLB.com's Will Leitch laid out the idea in a new article this weekend: The Tigers should sign Justin Verlander.
Verlander spent 2025 with the San Francisco Giants and is planning to continue his career despite his advanced age.
"It is a little underappreciated how good Verlander was in 2025," Leitch writes. "Sure, he only had four wins, leaving him 34 short of that 300 mark he wants, but he threw 152 innings with a 3.85 ERA, making him an above-average starting pitcher at the tender age of 42. He’ll be 43 when the season starts, which would make it even more perfect for him to return to Detroit, where he of course broke in and spent the first 13 years of his career. The Tigers need pitching. Verlander needs a home. And, frankly, the rest of us need this. How has this not already happened?"
Verlander hasn't pitched for the Tigers since 2013.
But as Leitch said, it was 13 years in Detroit for moving on. Verlander would certainly be familiar with his surroundings.
It wouldn't be a long-term commitment for the Tigers. At this point, Verlander would only get a one-year contract, probably worth a bit less than $15 million for the season.
Even at his age, Verlander takes the baseball every fifth day and does a good job. That's exactly the type of player the Tigers could use right now.
More news:
- Florida's 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux scored his first college point
- Chris Paul announces his NBA retirement plans
- Nation's longest high school winning streak snapped at 76 games
- Thanks to Steven Adams, the Rockets are on pace to break an all-time NBA record
- Shedeur Sanders can break a 17-QB Browns nightmare streak
- Blackhawks' 1st-round pick just led his high school football team to a state title