Tigers annoyingly reunite with future Hall of Famer who has owned Guardians in career

We’re less than 48 hours away from the official start of spring training, which means that most MLB teams have finalized their roster ahead of the start of the season. 

Emphasis on most. 

On Tuesday, the Tigers made an All-Star splash by signing Justin Verlander to a one-year, $13 million contract, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale also reported that $11 million of that contract will be deferred until 2030. 

Verlander’s contract has been a long time coming for Tigers fans, who have long been pounding the drum for a potential Verlander reunion. But it’s a signing that should be especially annoying for Guardians fans given how dominant Verlander has been against the Guardians in his career. 

Tigers sign Guardians killer Justin Verlander to one-year contract 

Even if Verlander isn’t at the same level that he was at earlier in his career, he’s still a future Hall of Famer who stands alone among active pitchers. 

Verlander has a 3.32 ERA across 3,500+ innings in his career, and has 266 career wins, 26 complete games and three no-hitters. Those are both the most among active players.

The 42-year-old (43 later this month) posted a 3.85 ERA in 152 innings last season for the Giants, which was a great bounce-back season after he had a disastrous season with the Astros in 2024. 

He got even better as the season went on, as he finished the season with a 2.60 ERA across the final 72 2/3 innings of his campaign. 

Verlander spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the Tigers and ended up recording a Rookie of the Year win in 2006 and an AL Cy Young and MVP win in his fantastic 2011 season. The Tigers made it to the Fall Classic twice during Verlander’s tenure with the club in 2006 and 2012, though they lost both times. 

The Tigers traded him to the Astros at the now-defunct August waiver wire deadline in 2017 which kicked off an incredible second chapter of his career. Verlander was a three-time All-Star during his time with Houston and won two Cy Youngs despite missing all of the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

This deal will also reunite Verlander with Tigers manager AJ Hinch, who managed Verlander during his time with the Astros. 

While Verlander’s career ERA of 4.43 against the Guardians isn’t as sparkling as you’d think, he’s made 58 starts against Cleveland and has had plenty of marquee starts against them in that span. 

Not only has he thrown two complete games against the Guardians in his career, but he’s also gone at least seven innings in 23 other starts against Cleveland.

His last start against Cleveland came last June when he didn’t get out of the fifth inning in what was his first start off the injured list. 

The Tigers already reinforced their rotation this offseason by signing Framber Valdez and decided to hold onto Tarik Skubal, and adding Skubal to that mix will make that solid unit even better. 

The Guardians needed everything to break their way last season to overcome their 15 1/2 game deficit to the Tigers in the American League Central, and Detroit’s decision to add Verlander to the fold will make that quest even tougher in 2026.