Former MVP intends to play next season at age 42

Even a devastating early exit after the season isn’t enough to dampen Justin Verlander’s excitement for a 20th season in Major League Baseball.

Verlander, who turns 42 next February, told reporters after the Houston Astros were eliminated in a wild card round by the Detroit Tigers that he intends to play again in 2025.

Justin Verlander said he plans to make a pitch next year. “I’m not ready to step down yet.”

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) October 2, 2024

“I’m not ready to step down yet,” Verlander said.

Verlander didn’t start any games in the Astros’ blowout loss to the Detroit Tigers at Minute Maid Park. He was also unable to win the ball in both games.

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In seven starts after returning from a neck injury in August, Verlander went 2-4 with an 8.10 ERA.

“I think I came back from the neck injury a little quicker,” he told reporters after a Sept. 20 start in which he was sacked by the Angels for six runs in 4.2 innings.

Verlander reached free agency when his conditional player option for 2025 did not vest. He had to pitch 140 innings and pass a physical exam to trigger the $35 million option that Verlander almost certainly would have exercised at age 41 after a poor 2024 season.

In 17 games, Verlander went 5-6 with a 5.48 earned run average. He pitched just 90.1 innings in a season cut short by the neck injury.

From 2006 to 2019, Verlander established his reputation as a premier workhorse with the Detroit Tigers and Astros. He made eight All-Star teams, won two Cy Young Awards and, in 2011, became the first American League pitcher to win the Most Valuable Player award since Dennis Eckersley in 1992.

Many questioned Verlander’s ability to recover from Tommy John surgery after missing the entire 2021 season. But in 2022, at age 39, he went 18-4 with a league-leading 1.75 ERA and 218 strikeouts, earning his second career Cy Young Award.

Verlander parlayed this season into a huge free agent contract with the New York Mets. The two-year, $86.7 million contract had a huge average annual value of over $43.3 million, which he won’t reach on his next contract.

Verlander leads all active pitchers in wins (262), losses (147), starts (526), ​​complete games (26), innings pitched (3,415.2) and strikeouts (3,416). It is all but certain that he will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame if he decides to retire.

With uncertainty surrounding who his next employer will be and what type of contract he can expect as a free agent, Verlander doesn’t seem eager to begin the countdown to induction into the Hall of Fame.

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