DETROIT (AP) - Right-hander Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers agreed Tuesday to a one-year contract worth $3,675,000, more than seven times his $500,000 salary last season.
The 2006 AL Rookie of the Year was 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA and 163 strikeouts in 33 starts with the Tigers last year.His five-year contract, which included a $3.15 million signing bonus, called for a $600,000 salary in 2009 but said that he could terminate the deal if he had enough service time to become eligible for arbitration.
He asked for $4.15 million and was offered $3.2 million when players and teams exchanged figures last month.
Detroit agreed to deals with all five of its players in arbitration, previously reaching agreements with catcher Gerald Laird ($2.8 million), right-hander Edwin Jackson ($2.2 million), left-hander Bobby Seay ($1.3 million) and right-hander Joel Zumaya ($735,000).
