Tigers agree to terms on five-year deal with Verlander

02/04/2010 4:58 PM ET

By det / MLB.com

The Detroit Tigers today announced the club has agreed to terms on a five-year contract with righthanded pitcher Justin Verlander, keeping him in a Tigers uniform through the 2014 season.

Verlander posted a 19-9 record, 3.45 ERA (240.0IP/92ER) and 269 strikeouts in 35 starts for the Tigers in 2009 as he was selected to the American League's all-star squad for the second time in his career. He led the American League with 269 strikeouts, 240.0 innings pitched and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings last season, while he tied for the league lead with 19 wins and finished sixth with a 3.45 ERA.

"The Tigers organization is excited to announce the signing of Justin to a long-term contract today," Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. "Justin is one of the premier pitchers in baseball and we feel he will anchor our starting rotation for many years."

His 269 strikeouts for the Tigers in 2009 led all major league pitchers and he became the fourth pitcher in club history to lead the majors in strikeouts, joining Hal Newhouser (1944 and 1945), Virgil Trucks (1949) and Mickey Lolich (1971). Verlander's 269 strikeouts mark the fifth-highest single-season total in Tigers history.

In 132 starts during his major league career, Verlander has compiled a 65-43 record, 3.92 ERA (840.0IP/366ER) and 746 strikeouts. Tabbed the American League's Rookie of the Year in 2006, he is tops among all league pitchers with 739 strikeouts and tied for second with 65 wins since the start of that season.

Detroit's first-round selection in the 2004 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Verlander fired the first no-hitter in Comerica Park history on June 12, 2007 versus Milwaukee. It marked the sixth no-hitter in Tigers history and the first since Jack Morris on April 7, 1984 against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. It marked the first no-hitter by a Tigers pitcher in Detroit since Virgil Trucks on May 15, 1952 versus Washington at Briggs Stadium.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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