The Detroit Tigers could reunite with 3 time Cy Young Award winner, 9 time all star, and future Hall of Fame starting pitcher Justin Verlander in free agency this winter, predicts ESPN’s Eric Karabell.
Verlander, who will turn 43 years old in February, posted a 3.85 ERA in 29 starts and 157 innings pitched with 137 strikeouts in 2025 for the San Francisco Giants. Verlander showed effectiveness for the Giants in 2025, posting a 4-4 record with a 2.99 ERA in the second half after struggling in the first half with a 0-7 record and a 4.70 ERA in his first 15 starts.
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Verlander dealt with an injury to his pectoral muscle back in May of 2025, which the Giants placed him on the 15-day IL, and that was reportedly a contributing factor to his first-half struggles with the Giants. Giants manager Bob Melvin confirmed this at the time of this injury by stating that the “pectoral injury impacted Verlander’s velocity and command in a previous start versus the A’s”, according to Melvin and reported by Maria Guardado of MLB.com. Aside from that, Verlander finished 2025 with a 20.7 percent strikeout rate and an 8 percent walk rate.
Verlander’s Storied Success In Detroit
The elder Verlander is no stranger to success in Detroit, having won 3 CY Young Awards, 9 All Star appearances, Rookie of the Year, Triple Crown, and a World Series appearance with the Tigers back in 2014, oddly enough, against the San Francisco Giants. Verlander was arguably the best pitcher in baseball in the 2010’s, winning back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards in 2011 and 2012, with over 200 strikeouts in those seasons and an ERA that hovered around 2.52.
Verlander also won the AL MVP and AL’s pitching Triple Crown in 2011 with a ridiculously dominant season in which he won 24 games, posting a 2.40 ERA with 250 strikeouts in 251 innings pitched. Back then, Verlander showcased a blazing triple-digit fastball with a wicked curveball and change-up, making it an unfair task for opposing hitters facing him.
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Verlander Can And Still Wants To Pitch In 2026
While he’s not the same dominant pitcher he once was back in his heyday with the Tigers, Verlander has shown he’s continued to be effective and could have something left in the tank. His second-half performance down the stretch for the Giants proves just that, and according to Jared Greenspan of MLB.com, Verlander has mentioned a desire to “keep playing” in 2026 and perhaps “beyond that”, reports Greenspan of MLB.com. Verlander currently has 266 career wins, just 34 shy of 300.
Regardless, Karabell of ESPN mentions how his prediction isn’t far fetched when you look at the fact that the “Tigers are looking into the starting pitching market”, and a reunion with Verlander could “not only help with their younger pitchers such as Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and Will Vest”, but “also with their more established pitchers, such as Ace Tarik Skubal”, states Karabell.
Tarik Skubal is currently the best starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. The possibility of the best pitcher’s in baseball’s past and present being put into the same rotation for the Tigers in 2026 would not only excite Tiger fans but baseball fans all over the country and the world who remember how Great Verlander was in his prime.
From a baseball win-now standpoint, Karabell points out that it also makes logistical sense, given the value Verlander still brings to a starting rotation in terms of expertise and effectiveness at his age. Karabell’s prediction here shows how the Tigers could see that benefit with their current squad, making the possibility of a reunion and Verlander retiring as a Detroit Tiger all the more worthwhile in 2026 and beyond.
Tigers Predicted To Reunite With Franchise Icon Justin Verlander