Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander has agreed to a two-year, $86 million deal with the New York Mets, including a third year option worth $35 million in 2025.
Verlander, who turns 40 in February, returned from Tommy John surgery to lead the Houston Astros to their second World Series championship in 2022. He had the lowest ERA in the majors and was a unanimous winner of his third Cy Young Award — becoming the first player to earn the prize after not pitching in the previous season.
Verlander went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 28 starts this past season and made his ninth All-Star team. Verlander won Game 5 in Philadelphia for the first World Series victory of his illustrious career, then became a free agent in November after opting out of the $25 million salary he would have earned in 2023.