Detroit Tigers Ace Justin Verlander became the highest paid pitcher in Major League Baseball history Friday, after signing a deal for $180 million over the next seven years, according to ESPN analyst Buster Olney.
The new contract gives the Tiger’s ace the potential to make up to $202 million in eight years.
"I love this city & the fans -- couldn't be more excited to spend my career here! We're going to bring a World Series to Detroit!!!" said the former MVP and Cy Young Award winner in a tweet Friday.
The previous highest paid pitcher was former Cy Young Winner Felix Hernandez. Just a month ago, Hernandez signed a deal for $175 million over seven years.
The contract requires the Tigers to pay Verlander $20 million each of the next two years. Verlander was already set to make this in his previous contract which would have expired in 2014. However, with the new contract, he will now make $28 million those two years are up for the remainder of his contract.
While there will always be people who believe Verlander does not deserve such a huge deal, the 30-year-old ace’s states help to make a strong case for this payday.
Verlander has won the Cy Young award and the Most Valuable player award which is very rare for a pitcher. Last season he went 17-8 and posted a 2.64 earned run average. He came up second in the race for the Cy Young award.
Tigers General manager Dave Dombrowski, assures everyone that his team made the right move.
"Justin is one of the premier pitchers in baseball and we are thrilled to keep him in a Tigers uniform for many years to come," he said. "Justin has been a Tiger for his entire career and he is on pace to be one of the greatest pitchers in this illustrious franchise's history."
