The Tigers have said that they completed a five year deal that will keep Justin Verlander in town for the forseeable future.  With all of the emphasis toward cutting salary (up until they signed Jose Valverde), this was a welcome move for Tiger fans and it all came down as the arbitration date was getting closer.  The number that’s being thrown around is $80 million which means Verlander will make a couple more million then Felix Hernandez’s deal earlier in the week.  There’s no details yet (that I’ve found) that breaks down how much Verlander will make year by year.

That answers part of the question as to why the Tigers made their big deal at the Winter Meetings and why the Tigers took a pass on Polanco.  Of course the Tigers have had a tough time lately signing guys near the end of the arbitration seasons to longer terms deals.  Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis and Nate Robertson are all making more then they’ll probably produce this year but then again, outside of Bonderman in 2006, none of those Tigers have had seasons even close to what Verlander put together in 2009.

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