Justin Verlander Will Retire After This Season As The Highest-Earning Pitcher In MLB History

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander will make his 10th All-Star appearance next week at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred named him as a Legacy Pick. And Verlander has built up quite the legacy over his 21-year MLB career. To date, he's racked up 266 regular-season wins and 3,554 strikeouts, adding another 17 victories and 244 strikeouts in the postseason. He's also won three Cy Young Awards, an MVP, and two World Series titles, both with the Houston Astros.

It's a surefire Hall of Fame career, but Verlander knows it's coming to a close. He announced his plans to retire at the end of the season, saying, "When you kind of put everything together and consider everything, I've been kind of trending toward this decision for quite a while."

Verlander will hang up his cleats as one of the best pitchers in modern baseball. He'll also go down as the highest-earning pitcher of all time, and the second-highest earning MLB player in history. Per Spotrac, Verlander will have earned $411,254,888 by the time this season wraps up. Only Alex Rodriguez ($485,159,552) made more in his career.

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The 43-year-old Verlander has spent most of his career with the Tigers and Astros, playing on one of those two teams for at least part of all but one season. He briefly joined the New York Mets in 2023 before returning to the Astros midseason, and he was with the San Francisco Giants last season.

Verlander's first Cy Young Award came in 2011. His biggest pay day arrived two years later in 2013, when he agreed to a seven-year, $180 million contract with the Tigers that was worth up to $202 million with certain incentives. No pitcher had ever received a deal that large. In 2017, the Tigers traded him to the Astros, and he won his first World Series later that year. He won his second World Series ring in 2022, the same season he won his final Cy Young Award.

Over his career, Verlander led the major leagues in wins three times, games started five times, innings pitched four times, and strikeouts three times. He'll likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer the first year he becomes eligible.

For now, though, he's focusing on getting back to the field. Verlander, who rejoined the Tigers this season on a one-year deal, has only made one start. He gave up 5 runs and 6 hits in 3 and 2/3 innings in an early-season loss and has been on the injured list with hip inflammation ever since. He was due to return on June 21, but a hamstring strain set that return back.

Verlander said he's "champing at the bit to be part of it," the "it" being Detroit's recent stretch of strong play on the field. The Tigers are currently in fourth place in the AL Central, but the team is playing its best ball of the season, winning seven of their last eight games.

If Detroit can continue its hot stretch, and Verlander can return to the field, we just might see one more magical postseason moment. It would be a fitting end to a stellar career.