💥 BREAKING NEWS: Justin Verlander’s top free-agency landing spots spark a fierce bidding war that could reshape the MLB landscape ⚡.yv

So often in Major League Baseball do we see a player who was once a superstar slowly fade and turn into a shell of the stud they once were. In the 2024 season, it looked like Justin Verlander was turning into the latest MVP/Cy Young-turned-has-been.

Jokes on us, apparently, as Verlander bounced back in a big way with the 2025 San Francisco Giants. The right-hander, who spent the entirety of this past regular season as a 42-year-old, made 29 starts (the most he’s had in a single season since 2019) while seeing an uptick in strikeout rate and a dip in hit rate.

Verlander is no longer the flamethrowing all-time great we’re used to seeing. That’s just fine though, as he’s already assembled a trophy case that’ll send him to Cooperstown on the first ballot the millisecond he’s eligible.

You don’t need me to run through his career accolades, but I’ll never pass up highlighting greatness like this when given the opportunity.

Pitchers in MLB history to have a season with at least 100 IP and 8.0 K/9 at age 42 or older:

Nolan Ryan
Randy Johnson
Roger Clemens
Justin Verlander

Not only is Verlander the active leader in wins, losses, games started, complete games, strikeouts, and so many more stats, but he’s also a three-time Cy Young winner, a former AL MVP, nine-time All-Star, two-time World Series Champion, and AL Rookie of the Year. The man has accomplished just about everything there is to do in the big leagues, and he is to be commended for that whenever possible.

• Age in 2026: 43
• 2025 Stats: 29 GS, 152 IP, 3.85 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 20.7 K%, 7.9 BB%
• 2025 Salary: $15 million
• Qualifying Offer Eligibility: No 

Contract Projection 

• Contract Length Expectation: 1 year
• Expected AAV: $10-$15 Million

While Verlander is past his prime, he’s still going to get a guaranteed contract, most likely for a contending team, for the 2026 season. The right-hander is turning 43 in February, but his performance this past year went a long way to showing that he’s still got it.

In 29 starts, Verlander posted a 3.85 ERA and saw his numbers get exponentially better as the season marched on. In the first half, the 20-year veteran had a 4.70 ERA across 15 starts, leading many to believe that the end was near.

Of course, he wound up making 14 second-half starts and posting a 2.99 ERA. For those keeping track at home, that was better than Tyler Glasnow, Garrett Crochet, Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, Max Fried, and a ton of other star-caliber hurlers. In the end, Verlander was 11th in second-half ERA and 15th in second-half fWAR. Not bad for someone who’s almost old enough to be somebody’s grandpa.

Let’s break down the top landing spots for Verlander, and identify which teams could best utilize him in what could easily be his final go-round at the big league level.

Top Justin Verlander Landing Spots

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles received an otherworldly performance from left-hander Trevor Rogers this past season, and he’ll be atop their rotation in the coming year. Co-ace Kyle Bradish was injured throughout the majority of 2025, but he’s healthy entering ’26 and will help give this team a legitimate one-two combo atop the starting-five.

Behind them, there’s a bit more uncertainty. Dean Kremer has been good-not-great in each of the past three years, Tyler Wells has struggled staying healthy, and left-hander Cade Povich hasn’t impressed across his first two years in the big leagues.

You don’t have to squint very hard to see where an established veteran like Verlander fits into this picture.

The Orioles finished this past season in last place in the AL East with a 75-87 record. In the early stages of this offseason, though, they’ve already acquired Taylor Ward in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels and signed closer Ryan Helsley to a two-year pact in free agency. They’ve been active, and are clearly not going to be content with another non-competitive showing in 2026.

This bodes well for Verlander, who surely won’t sign with a non-contender at this point in his career. The Orioles have a great lineup (at least on paper), and they’re likely two pitchers away from having a solid staff. If the team can add another reliever and perhaps another non-Verlander starter, they’d likely have done enough to lure him in on a single-year deal.

Detroit Tigers

Who doesn’t love a good reunion? The Tigers are in an interesting spot, because they could use either Verlander or fellow future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer to shore up their pitching staff this winter. The former impressed during the 2025 regular season while the latter really stepped up for his team in the playoffs.

Regardless of which direction they go, the spot for Verlander is there. Tarik Skubal won’t go anywhere unless the Tigers have their socks knocked off, while Casey Mize and Reese Olson both turned in impressive showings this past year. Jack Flaherty sported an uninspiring 4.64 ERA in 2025, but his FIP was much better, and he struck out over 10 batters per nine innings for just the second time since 2020.

The final spot in the Tigers’ rotation could either go to Troy Melton, who turned in a 3.05 ERA in four appearances as a starter down the stretch last year, or a more established option like Verlander.

Detroit bringing Verlander back into the fold wouldn’t strictly be for nostalgia’s sake, as there is a legitimate spot he could slot into in their rotation.

Houston Astros

Look, another reunion! The Astros are set to lose Framber Valdez to free agency, and they’ve got a whole lot of uncertainty in their rotation ahead of 2026. As of right now, they’ve got Hunter Brown leading the charge, then Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers, Jason Alexander, and Spencer Arrighetti behind him.

The lowest ERA in the latter four? 4.62, courtesy of Javier, who made just eight starts in 2025.

Again, you don’t have to be convinced where Verlander fits into this staff. The Astros are one of multiple teams on here that need a Verlander plus another starter, but signing the future Hall of Famer is certainly a start.

Seven of Verlander’s 20 years in the big leagues came in Houston. In 130 starts during that span, he went 73-28 with a 2.71 ERA while winning two Cy Youngs and striking out 300 batters in a season (2019) for the only time in his career. You could say that he’s a beloved figure in those parts.

Similarly to the fit on the Tigers, though, a reunion in Houston would not just be because everybody likes a feelgood story. Verlander showed this past year that he’s still a legitimate asset, and the Astros could desperately use some help in their starting rotation. How about a living legend that refuses to show his age?

San Diego Padres

In case you haven’t seen the state of the 2026 Padres starting rotation lately, things don’t look great behind Nick Pivetta.

Joe Musgrove will be healthy and back in action, but he didn’t pitch last year and will be 33 by the time Opening Day rolls around. He’s not old, and he’s shown time and time again that he’s a star-caliber pitcher, but bouncing back from major surgeries only gets harder the higher up in age you get.

Randy Vásquez made 26 starts (and a pair of relief appearances) for the Padres last year but he struggled with walks and sported a 4.85 FIP and 5.43 SIERA behind his surface-level ERA of 3.84.

Behind him, it’s JP Sears, who the Padres acquired at the 2025 trade deadline and quickly optioned to Triple-A, and Kyle Hart, who the club just re-signed but struggled mightily in a starting role last year.

There’s a whole lot of uncertainty in this team’s rotation that could easily be solved by plugging in someone like Verlander. Even if he isn’t pumping triple-digits anymore and isn’t going to bring home any more Cy Young Awards, he’s at the very least better than half of the options this team’s already got on hand.

With the Padres looking to watch their payroll, a deal with Verlander feels even more likely because he’s not going to break the bank at this point in his career.

San Francisco Giants

As of September, Buster Posey, the Giants’ president of baseball operations, said that he’s “definitely interested” in a reunion with Verlander this offseason. Now that we’ve made it to December and no non-Verlander pieces have been slotted into the club’s 2026 rotation, it’s hard to believe much has changed in that regard.

Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Landen Roupp give the Giants a steady and reliable one-through-three in their rotation. There’s very little to worry about there, especially with the first two established studs.

Kai-Wei Teng and Trevor McDonald combined to make nine starts this past season, and it’s not going to be a stunner to see Verlander brought back into the fold and taking the rotation spot of one of these arms. For what it’s worth though, McDonald posted a 1.80 ERA through his first 15 big league innings, so Teng being the rotation casualty for Verlander is probably the way to go.

When a player performs well for a team in his walk-year, it’s always common sense to put said team in his top landing spots during the offseason. The Giants need an arm or two this winter, and Verlander makes all the sense in the world. It was this very same Giants team that saw him tap back into some of that ace-like potential during the 2025 second-half.

If Verlander doesn’t go back to Detroit or Houston, another single-year pact on the Giants feels like where he’ll wind up.