Former Houston Astros Star Gets One-Upped by Past Teammate With New Contract

One of the former Houston Astros stars saw his past teammate one-up him in contract negotiations this offseason.

Sep 20, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) walks in the dugout before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros brought back Justin Verlander ahead of the trade deadline in 2023 with the hopes that he'd help them hoist another World Series trophy.

He was the catalyst for that in 2017, having been acquired from the Detroit Tigers to lead an already star-studded rotation which resulted in the franchise's first-ever championship.

It turned out to be an incredible trade for both the Astros and Verlander.

He won two Cy Young Awards during his time in Houston and was a major part of them winning their second World Series title in 2022.

But like so many elite players before him, when his contract was up and he hit the open market, the Astros allowed him to leave and sign a contract with the highest bidder.

Verlander did that with the New York Mets, inking a record-setting two-year, $86.7 million contract in terms of AAV. However, his tenure there was short-lived, and when it became clear the Mets weren't going to make the playoffs, Houston opted to bring him back for their stretch run.

Things didn't work out like it did in 2017, though.

The Astros were eliminated by their in-state rival Texas Rangers, and after a 2024 campaign was marred by injury for Verlander, there was little chance he was going to be re-signed this time around, either.

And it turned out that was the case.

He inked a one-year, $15 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, a hefty contract for someone his age, but seemingly the going rate for veteran arms.

That is until his former teammate and long-time rival, Max Scherzer, one-upped him with the contract he agreed to.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported Scherzer and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement on a one-year, $15.5 million deal, something that could give the fellow three-time Cy Young winner some bragging rights in his professional rivalry over the former Astros star.

Verlander and Scherzer were teammates on the Tigers from 2010-14, and there have been numerous stories coming out about "tension" that existed between the two during that time.

Scherzer was the first to leave, signing a megadeal with the Washington Nationals and becoming one of their best pitchers in franchise history, coincidentally beating Houston and Verlander in the 2019 World Series to help that team win their first-ever championship.

The careers of the two have been eerily similar.

Both won Cy Young Awards early in their careers before leaving Detroit and continuing to flourish elsewhere, both on a level that was greater than what they had accomplished in their first stop. They then were important parts of their teams winning championships. And even at their current ages, they are seemingly defying Father Time by performing well at this stage of their career, entrenched in a battle to see who can finish with the most strikeouts before they hang up the spikes.

While the personal differences they had might no longer be there, especially after they had a chance to be teammates again for a half-season as members of the Mets, the professional rivalry is still in place.

Scherzer was able to notch a win in his belt by getting just a bit more money than Verlander on the open market, but who has the last laugh will come down to who performs better when the 2025 campaign gets underway.