Tigers righty Justin Verlander told John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press he's yet to receive a long-term contract offer from the club. Still, interest appears mutual.
Verlander would prefer to work out his 2010 salary before entering long-term discussions. With Joe Blanton locked up, Verlander's $2.6MM gap with the Tigers is second only to Tim Lincecum's $5MM divide among those exchanging arbitration figures. I mentioned yesterday on Twitter that I found Verlander's $9.5MM request to be high. My comparison to Felix Hernandez's second arbitration year salary was flawed, since that wouldn't factor into an arbitration hearing. A better match might be Andy Pettitte. Here's how the two stack up after four seasons, keeping in mind arbitration panels focus on simple stats like wins:
- Verlander: 840 IP, 132 GS, 65 wins, 3.92 ERA, 746 Ks
- Pettitte: 852.6 IP, 127 GS, 67 wins, 3.75 ERA, 588 Ks
Pettitte received a 56.6% raise heading into the 1999 season. Verlander had a better platform year, more strikeouts, and better award finishes, Pettitte the superior ERA. Even a 70% raise would put Verlander at $6.25MM in 2010, though the Tigers would only have to convince the panel he deserves less than $8.2MM to win.
This may all be moot, as the Tigers will probably want to avoid a hearing given their desire to lock Verlander up long-term. If they settle near the midpoint, Verlander's aggressive filing will pay off. As for a multiyear contract, Verlander acknowledged he's "closely mirrored" to Felix, whose five-year, $78MM pact will be made official today. Verlander does not want to negotiate during the season.
What are the tigers waiting for they should lock him up.
i utterly and completly agree with ADJPB
Also agree… I’m pretty confident it’ll happen
Ohhh come now tim… We all know that you can compare numbers, but you can’t compare the caliber of pitcher. Its like comparing Joel Pineiro to John Lackey… There is no comparison short of their numbers turned out even. The chance that Verlander maintains his Ace status throughout his career and especially in 2010 is almost a given, whereas Pettite was never the ace of the Yankees.
Verlander is a dominant pitcher, Pettite never has had the kind of dominance that Verlander does. This is not to say he’s not an effective pitcher. He was and still is. But the comparison really does stop at the numbers. I think a blind monkey could see that.
Verlander is also not on the same scale as Felix IMO, but he is somewhere in between the two. Also, keep in mind that inflation has quadrupled since 1999. You would have never seen a team (including the Yankees) even consider a 300 million dollar contract at the time. At that time, basketball was bigger than baseball, and Kevin Garnett and Shaq were the ones raking in the big bucks. It was really only when A-Rod went to Texas and Jeter got his 10 year 200 million contract (1999 funny enough) that the process of paying players ridiculous sums began.
I figure anywhere between 8 milliion and 10 million is a good bid for Verlander from his perspective. He chose the high end. This coming of course from a guy who agrees with Kieth Law that Lincecum let the Giants off LIGHT. He could have very easily asked for 14-16 million and if the Giants submitted 8-9 again, he would have landed it without a doubt.
Lincecum deserves to win his case. Verlander deserves to win his case although I hardly think 9.5 is “light” for Verlander. Its just about right.
Check that actually because pettite did dominate in the NL, but he still was behind clemens.
either way… you get my point. comparison stops at the numbers…. OOOO OOOO and I got one… Verlander didn’t do ROIDS. Sorry Yanks fans, you like to slip that one in on Ortiz every day on MLBTR hehe. So I gotta get my shot in ;-) I’m actually funny enough a big Andy Pettite fan though. I think many left handed pitchers (including Jon Lester) have really learned a lot from both his pitch repertoire of what works vs righties as well as his work ethic and demeanor. He’s a class act all around. No hate for Pettite from this corner.
You know…I dont think Felix really is that much better than Verlander. I live in Seattle and see 60+ games a year, and watch almost every Tiger game as well.
I think a lot of his success last year can be tied to the M’s having the #1 defense in the league. That helps a lot. if you had Beltre, Ichiro, Guitierrez running down your balls in one of the biggest pitchers parks in the league, you’d probably do better than JV who had to rely on a broken Inge, a platooning Everett/Santiago, and an aging Magglio and whoever the hell else they put in Left that day.
They are both fantastic, but I just dont agree with everyone who thinks Felix is a higher caliber pitcher. I seriously doubt he’s going to put up the same kind of numbers in 2010.
I think Verlander gets what he wants. He’s a phenomenal pitcher, and I hope he stays in a Tigers uniform forever. It’s a real treat getting to see a Tigers game and watching him pitch.
He will get a contract, Im pretty sure of it. Settle for 8-ish million this year, 4 year deal later.
I’d love to see pitchers’ FIP, especially when comparing stats.