Last month, the Astros came to an agreement with Justin Verlander to bring back the eight-time All-Star. While the agreement and terms were reported in mid-November, the deal was somewhat curiously not made official prior to the December 2 lockout.
That’s no longer an issue, as Buster Olney of ESPN reports (on Twitter) that Major League Baseball has formally approved the agreement. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network adds that the contract was submitted to MLB on December 1, in the waning hours before the expiration of the 2016-21 collective bargaining agreement. Because it was submitted for approval before the lockout, MLB and the MLB Players Association have approved the deal even during the ongoing freeze of 40-man roster transactions.
It’s still not precisely clear what caused the atypically long hold-up, although Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic tweets that the now-resolved issue had to do with some “language in the contract.” That’s essentially a moot point now, as Verlander is again officially a member of the Astros. The originally-reported contract terms (a two-year, $50MM guarantee with an opt-out provision after the first season) remain in effect, tweets Heyman.
Verlander has only made one start over the past two seasons on account of Tommy John surgery. When last healthy, the former AL MVP posted one of the strongest seasons of his illustrious career. Over 223 innings in 2019, Verlander pitched to a 2.58 ERA/2.95 SIERA en route to his second career Cy Young award. The Astros are placing a sizable bet he’ll return to that star form coming off surgery and turning 39 years old in February. Of course, the Houston front office has kept a keen eye on Verlander’s recovery process throughout the past 14 months.
The Astros entered the lockout with an open spot on the 40-man roster, perhaps in anticipation of this exact scenario. No corresponding move will need to be made.
good. the lockout shouldnt mean the league office just gets a free vacation.
That’s what surprising. It took two weeks to approve during a period when nothing is happening.
I wonder what language in the contract caused issues that would require a holdup for weeks.
I hear it referred to the commissioner as, “that a-hole, Manfred”. They went back and forth with various descriptors (e.g. bafoon, jamoke) but had to settle for “tool”.
As part of the contract, the Astros required Kate Upton to attend at least forty home games.
Maybe the contract was the same length as some of your posts, and they needed the extra two weeks to hire a team to help sort through all meaningless pages.
Attend naked
His brother Ben had to approve the language during a podcast . Ben never got past Low A Lakeland, but apparently he is a God that knows all baseball.
Bizarre. When this story first broke, it was assumed the deal would have to wait until after the strike ended.
Perhaps the office was trying to leverage baseball players into going after the union and press to end the lockout so they can get their guaranteed money.
Oh I’m sure the front office is still working hard. I’m sure there are back channel conversations between agents and GMs taking place.
Bet you that the first day free-agency reopens it will be like day 1 of NBA free agency.
Odd.
This news Justin.
Verlander is officially back with those rascals in Texas.
Weird, but at least that settles that!
Hey, they agreed on something! That’s a start, right? *insert eye roll emoji*
Thank goodness stay in Houston where you belong!
You’re crazy if you don’t think JV would make the Yankees (or any other team) better. If he comes back if full form, $25M/yr. is an absolute steal. I was hoping he’d sign with Boston, but instead they go with Paxton on a 1 year deal who won’t be ready until July…strange things afoot in Boston, but at least they made some deals unlike those all of sudden low-budget Yankees.
@Dorothy_Mantooth- not saying Verlander wouldn’t have made the Yankees better. He just was never my preference. If I had a choice between Scherzer or Verlander I would take Scherzer every time. I feel the Yankees totally blew it by not signing Scherzer. He was definitely a need. The Mets came up really big. And now they will sign Buck Showalter, and they will have the best manager in NY.
The question isn’t Scherzer or Verlander? Its Scherzer for $43mil or Verlander for $25mil? If the dollar amount is irrelevant to you, then your opinion is irrelevant to me.
@YankeeLifer. You didn’t have a choice between Verlander and Scherzer. I’m sure Lotte Giants fans would prefer Scherzer to Glenn Sparkman, but it was never in the cards. Similar to Scherzer to the Yankees.
@Chipper Jones illegitimate kid- I really hope your screen name isn’t accurate. If it is, you poor child. But you can’t tell me that Verlander is better then Scherzer. My point is who would you want pitching in a World Series game 7? I think the answer is obvious. Who really cares about the salary of the two pitchers. Winning is always the most important thing.
@BeansforJesus- it’s too bad the Yankees didn’t make an offer to Scherzer. He likely was going to take the highest offer. So $45 annually for 3 years would of likely got it done. The Yankees blew it. This wasn’t a want for them, this was a clear need to get to a World Series. Ca$hman is always incognito when things need to happen.
@YankeesLifer i can certainly appreciate the “not my money, so who cares approach” to an off-season, especially the Yankees. But do you really think the Yankees would commit like $80 million in yearly payroll to two players?!! (Cole and Scherzer)
If they did, there should be a clause that all Yankees fans should have to sign that says “you cannot complain about what the team spends or call them cheap”.
@BeansforJesus- I would of been fine with the Yankees just signing Scherzer as a free agent this season and them making a trade for a shortstop using Luke Voit as the bait. Just some minor tweaking had to be done. Rizzo wants to resign for a few years. Olson and Freeman could sign somewhere else.
@yankee-4-. Don’t feel sorry for Chippers illegitimate son. If it’s true he is probably a great looking guy that gets all the ladies. Bad part is maybe dad isn’t opening up the checkbook. I myself followed his pops from the beginning till the end of his career and hope one of his boys make it to MLB someday. If anything he would have some great conservations at parties in the Atlanta area.
But signing Scherzer means $80 million for two starters for like the next three years (if Scherzer signed for the same contract). Voit wouldn’t be bait for a shortstop, rather a throw in. Voit alone could probably fetch Orlando Arcia and lotto ticket.
Let’s wait until the new CBA is done. The Yanks and Sox were screwed to wait before jumping in given each’s financial commitments already and potential implications of exceeding the threshold. The Mets under Cohen need to look for immediate success regardless of short term ramifications. Both Boston and New York will make moves for 2 and 23. The real questions are what moves and will they better each club?
The people paying the salary probably care.
Go into work tomorrow and tell them they need to double yours. When they laugh and so no, respond with, “I’m a great employee, who cares about the salary?”
I had hoped, too, that the deal would fall through and the Giants would jump in. I have little doubt that Verlander will be a tremendous asset to the Astros, even after the TJ.
“…unlike those suddenly low-budget Yankees.”
Ya know, I’ve thought about this.
It is widely known that after seeing the Astros success using analytics after 2015 Cash went ahead & assembled one of – if not the – biggest analytics depts in the league.
However: their *financial* department dwarfs their analytics dept & always has. Cash has a whole bunch of really smart money guys at his disposal. Just look at all those weird options tacked on that increase the overall value of a contract while simultaneously lowering the CBT hit. Pretty complicated & clever stuff.
Sitting out the early free agency binge was absolutely purposeful. So, I keep wondering; why? Uh? & it’s gotta be coming from the money guys. I’m sure they have run a myriad of projections, etc & have decided that the better “deals” will occur post lockout. It’s the only thing that makes sense in light of how – once again – fiscally conservative Cash played it.
I hate the “appeal to authority” argument.
But: this is a room full of savvy, knowledgeable, highly trained financial experts. My money is on them being right.
I do hope you’re right, Ducky. I just think back to the Yankees that could’ve been: Mad Max (twice); Harper; Machado; Seager; Castillo; a catcher (take your pick, but JTR); Marte; Trea Turner; Goldy; and on, and on…
Point is, we could’ve been watching a new dynasty if the Yanks simply used their most expendable resource – cash. And that’s if they kept a 50% contribution to the roster payroll. Imagine if they went back up to 77%?!
You’re smart and patient. I hope you’re right in this case, and I’ll be so happy to be wrong.
Oh, I hear that, Clip.
I firmly believe in ’17 we were one starting pitcher away from a pennant. & in ’19 we were one starting pitcher away from – at the very least – a game 7 in the LCS. Two pretty good opportunities just pissed away. We would probably be viewing this core a lot differently had those rotations been just a little stronger.
Shoulda woulda coulda.
Hal is definitely a lot more interested in profits than George was. But – to be fair – I don’t think we will ever see another owner in MLB reinvest 70-80% of revenue into payroll. That was a one off. Bet. As for 50%…well, that does interfere with one’s bottom line.
Now.
Don’t misconstrue my optimism. I firmly believe Cash’ll assemble another 95-100 win team. But: I don’t think he will put together some type of on-paper juggernaut akin to the LAD. So there is that.
I think a lot of the Yankee guys on the board aren’t going to get many items on their individual offseason Wish Lists filled. But Cash’ll make us better. He has to. He knows it & so does ownership. We just won’t be overwhelmed by the end product, is my guess. & not as much roster turnover will occur as many would like to see. Bet on that one too.
That opt out is for the Mets.
If he pitches well in ’22….I hope you are right!
BartoloHRball- Yes, cheaters definitely deserve one another. It’s a match!
So what do you mean cheaters deserve one another? How did JV cheat?
He probably says that because JV was on the 2017 Astros team that got popped cheating. Apparently, to some people, anyone who was on that team is guilty, I guess. That’s why Correa going to NY would be weird. NY fans hate him, apparently.
I guess that they figure JV benefited when Astros’ cheating hitters scored more runs on his days on the mound.
Verlander had horrible run support when he was healthy for Houston. Their lineup was always going against the other team’s ace.
So will Nick Martinez and the Padres get this same treatment?
I believe that’s already done. 4 years at $20 million ($5 million AAV), I believe. He must’ve been one of the better players overseas to get that deal right off the bat.
We can all relax now.
Going to the Mets in 23
They can have him and whatever’s left of his arm at this point.
I know Verlander is coming off TJS so there’s no guarantee of immediate success for Houston, but he has to be a little bit jealous of the monster deal Scherzer just signed. Scherzer is getting paid almost double what Verlander is (not to mention for an extra year too) and they are comparable in age, experience and career performance. I wonder if Verlander had waited until the Scherzer deal was signed if he could have upped his asking price? Again, the TJS plays a big part in this deal but he’ll be nearly 1.5 years removed from surgery in April and if anyone can overcome the post-TJS issues, it’s a warrior like Verlander.
Durable Scherzer + filthy rich Cohen = Insane deal. I wouldn’t have offered that to Max, and I’m a Nats fan. Crazy.
@Veejh- if your team is an ace away from getting to or winning a World Series you have to get it done, even if it’s $45 million a year for 3 years, you do it. Ask questions later. The most important thing is winning it all. You should understand that having had won a World Series. So confused by your comment.
That being said the Mets aren’t one ace pitcher away from making it to the National Championship. Let me rephrase, it’s highly unlikely.
@leif. Yeah they still need more starting pitching. Nobody knows what deGrom or even Max will look like in 2022 (if there even is a season). Thor pretty much flipped them the bird. While I am no fan at all of Stroman he did have 16 quality starts. Max had 18 quality starts in the regular season. So really the Mets are either the same off or maybe worse if deGrom and Scherzer don’t come back strong. Carlos Carrasco seems to be in decline will be 35 years old and hasn’t thrown more than 85 innings total in a season in 3 years. I think it’s still too soon to figure out what the Mets have with Tylor Megill. Taijuan Walker there a plenty of guys just like him. Mets still need another TOR arm and more offense to make life hard for the Braves and Phillies.
Getting a record $25MM coming off TJ and not having thrown a pitch, I sincerely doubt he is jealous of anyone.
He’s getting $25 million for not having pitched in 2 years, basically. Scherzer is fresh off a dominant season. Scherzer got a little higher AAV than he would have had the deal been for more than 3 years. So GM’s up the AAV on some of these deals so they don’t have to give the years. The problem is that other marquee players will start looking at Scherzer’s AAV as something to expect or shoot for. So, one of the next young bucks is going to want $43 million per, but for 8-10 years, now, unfortunately. Perhaps not this winter, but soon, I bet.
Lol owners won’t throw it on the table …
@Dorothy V just sat out two seasons without throwing a pitch and received 66mil.. Who’s the real jealous one now?
These lockout “rules” are puzzling. They seem a tad elastic.
What’s elastic? The deal was submitted prior to the lockout.
Remain calm….my point simply that if contract language still needed to be agreed-upon, then the contract wasn’t done. Except when the league is elastic enough to not worry about exact contract language. Personally, I don’t have an ax to grind with Verlander, and I certainly don’t have one against this deal. But the “lockout” seems to have, and here’s that word again, a certain elasticity in its application.
Was the contract language the holdup? It could’ve been his medical stuff because of the serious surgeries he’s had lately. I didn’t read the entire article. Perhaps I will and answer my own question, lol.
The narrative specifically says it was contractual language. His point stands. If contractual language wasn’t clear, or wasn’t approved prior to the lockout, then was approved during the lockout, a lockout it is not.
I am sure it was a done deal before the deadline and not announced. Buster trying to make something out of nothing. (Make news) You still havent seen anything official from either camp.
Does anyone know whether agents and GM’s are allowed to talk during the lockout but just not sign deals? Can they make offers? Or are any conversations at all against the rules? Would assume the latter, but not well-versed in sports union CBA law.
Technically, the agents and GMs are not allowed to talk about any players that were on a 40-man roster at the end of the regular season. If they do talk, they are supposed to document the conversation and submit it to the league office but it’s something that MLB really can’t police too well, so I’m sure some conversations are happening behind the scenes.
With that said, making offers during the lockout is definitely prohibited and teams would get in trouble if they were caught doing that. I’m sure the owners have stressed to their GMs not to discuss any potential contracts with player agents. They want this lockout to sting as much as possible. Seems to be working with the less-talented players given the amount of KBO/Japanese deals we’ve seen lately. The Freddy Galvis deal was really eye opening.
I’m assuming that they aren’t allowed, but I don’t see anyway the league can stop people from just talking. Especially when some deals & especially trades, can take up to a month to sort out.
FG’s Kevin Goldstein, who used to work in a front office, mentioned in a chat that there is still informal chatter among agents and ballclubs. Teams have been also spending an inordinate of time in the minor league rule 5 draft.
The Astros were smart to re-up with JV even after the TJS. I’d much rather sign Verlander for $25M/yr. than Clayton Kershaw given all of Kershaw’s recent injuries. I really hope Kershaw isn’t the next star to require Tommy John. Last year’s forearm injury seems ominous for sure. Whoever signs Kershaw should be very careful. The best contract for Kershaw would be a 1 year guarantee with vesting options based on total innings pitched. If he exceeds 25 starts or 150 IP, the following year’s option automatically vests. There’s no way you commit 3+ guaranteed years to Kershaw right now unless he’s willing to take a huge discount. Can’t wait for this damn lockout to end so we can see where the remaining free agents end up signing.
Always seemed kind of odd that the deal was not official prior to the lockout. Not sure this really explains the reasons why, contract language seems pretty vague. I would say this should end all the speculation, but it probably wont. Just shift it from Verlander still being a free agent to all sorts of conspiracy theories regarding why the long delay.
My guess is that it was language that MLB needed to approve. Since the deal was signed before the lockout, both the player and the team/agent did everything necessary to make it a binding agreement; MLB just needed to sign off on some non-standard contract language. Again, just a guess but that seems to make the most sense here.
The contract issue had to do with the requirement that Verlander wear a mask when taking a shower in the locker room.
It wasn’t specified what the mask had to cover.
The mask of Zorro?
Glad the Asterisks re-signed a 38 year old coming off an injury and with about 11 million miles on his arm. I hope they re-sign Grienke to a similar contract.
No mileage last two years. He’s had more than the standard 1 year to come back, as he did not come back early and took his time. I couldn’t be happier. If there is anyone who will come back in top shape it will be JV.
Doesn’t Schertzer have one million miles on his arm too?
Well, finally, some real MLB news! Some real good baseball news!
$50 MILLION…PLUS ALL OF YOU have failed to mention, HE’S MARRIED TO KATE UPTON.
The man doesn’t need to be felt sorry for, one bit. Tryely a blessed man!!
I always thought I had a shot with Kate…..or was that with Melvin?
Rob Manfred and Tony Clark should take part in a Donkey Kong Country speed run. The one with the faster time gets their way with the CBA.
Hope they choke on it.
Anyone hear anything new on the lockout? Or are they just going to hang out until Feb when spring training nears and then go into rush mode.
There’s a high probably that will happen.
Or a fat stalemate like ‘94.
Somebody at Mlb sent Buster Olney a bone. Other than that, why is he still in the business?!?!
Verlander’s only championship is 2017. I wish he had an unblemished one on his résumé.
Verlander had horrible run support when he was healthy for Houston. Their lineup was always going against the other team’s ace.
2014 Tigers had Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Price and Robbie Ray. And won nada
Pitching helps win championships. Hot bats WIN championships.
Tigers had a legendary rotation for a few years there.
Unfortunately, the Tigers team had some holes with its “boom and bust” beer league softball offense and multiple DH players playing in the field. The Tigers were slow and defensively challenged. The team was not built for their home ballpark(pitching, speed, defense). Tigers could not play “little ball” and manufacture runs when their big power guys were shut down by dominant pitching in the playoffs and World Series. And, the Tigers were short a dominating closer and set up men.
The Tigers team this past year had a much better defensive OF including speed, defense, little ball and won a lot of close games against dominating pitching. When their big bats (Torkelson, Greene etc) get promoted and with Javier Baez and others and when their young pitching reaches its potential, then this New Tigers team could be even better/more balanced than their last contender.
Having a great rotation doesn’t guarantee anything. My Braves had Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz all in the same rotation from 1993-1999 and only won one championship.
Great signing by the Strohs. If they had Verlander pitching the way he has pitched in the playoffs and World Series in the past during the just past World Series, then they would have won it.
2 innings pitched in over 2 years. How many innings do those pitchers throw in year 3? Less than 100 in all cases probably.