Detroit Tigers: Justin Verlander increasingly likely to return to organization

The Detroit Tigers new managerial hire makes it even more likely that Justin Verlander returns to the Motor City when he becomes a free agent.

When the Detroit Tigers announced that they were hiring A.J. Hinch to be their new manager, it was announced that he had been texting with Justin Verlander about his new gig. Verlander spoke to Hinch about the environment of Detroit when things are going well.

Verlander was a 13-year member of the Tigers organization and the face of the organization’s pitching staff for quite some time. When the Tigers traded Verlander to the Houston Astros in 2017, he was finally able to win his World Series ring.

While the conversation of that 2017 World Series ring being marked with an asterisk is a plausible argument in 2020, he was still able to win his ring. Now, Verlander is 37 years old and coming off of Tommy John Surgery, which ended his 2020 season after just one start.

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As the 2021 season comes into focus during this offseason, Verlander is slated to receive $33 million on his contract with the Astros. After that, he will become a free agent once again, and coming home to the Tigers has to look more and more enticing.

While the Tigers are not winning, and it will still take some time to become winners once again, coming “home” to the Motor City where Verlander started his career to be a veteran in the rotation could work out incredibly well.

As a Tigers fan, take a moment to think about how amazing it would be to have Verlander back in the rotation to cap off his career while Manning, Mize, and Skubal lead the way at the front of the rotation.

It has been rumored that Verlander could return in the past, but it just seems even more likely the way things are transpiring here in Detroit.

Verlander has gotten better with age; Tommy John Surgery will likely put a damper on that and make it tougher for him. However, he still won the 2019 American League Cy Young award, which is quite the achievement for the then 36-year-old, who also threw a no-hitter that season.

Now that his former Astros manager, Hinch, is running things in Detroit, Verlander has even more incentive to come back home. It sure seems like Avila would be likely to cave and throw a player-friendly contract towards Verlander to get him back in the rotation as he closes out his big league career.

Only time will tell, next offseason will be when this becomes a big topic for discussion, but after the Tigers latest moves, there is no way not to at least start pondering the thought of a reunion with Verlander.

Frankly, the Detroit Tigers should do what they need to, to ensure that Justin Verlander closes out his career pitching in here in Detroit while the team enters an era of competition once again.