DETROIT TIGERS, LHP FRAMBER VALDEZ AGREE TO THREE-YEAR DEAL DEAL INCLUDES A PLAYER OPT-OUT AFTER 2027 + A MUTUAL OPTION FOR 2029
The Detroit Tigers and left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez have agreed to terms on a three-year contract worth $115,000,000 guaranteed. Valdez will earn base salaries of $17,500,000 during the 2026 season, $37,500,000 during the 2027 season and $35,000,000 during the 2028 season. Valdez has the right to opt-out of the contract following the 2027 campaign. The contract also includes a mutual option for 2029 at $40,000,000 with a $5,000,000 buyout. Valdez will receive a $20,000,000 signing bonus, all deferred, with payments starting in 2030.
Additionally, the base salary in each year of this contract from 2027-29 may be escalated by as much as $5,000,000 if, in the immediately preceding season, Valdez achieves the following award recognition and does not end the season on the injured list. Here are the possible escalators:
- Cy Young First Place: $2,000,000
- Cy Young Second Place: $1,000,000
- Cy Young Third Place: $500,000
- WS MVP: $2,000,000
- ALCS MVP: $1,000,000
Valdez, 32, joins the Tigers after spending all or part of the last eight seasons with the Houston Astros (2018-25), where he earned a pair of A.L. All-Star nods (2022-23) and was a 2022 World Champion. He has exceeded 176.0 innings pitched in each of the last four seasons (the only southpaw to do so, joining only Logan Webb) and notched double digits in victories in each of the last five campaigns (the only southpaw in all of baseball to do so, joining only Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman, Webb and Zack Wheeler). Only five left-handed pitchers have totaled 350.0 innings with a sub-3.50 ERA in the past two seasons: Tarik Skubal, Cristopher Sanchez, Garrett Crochet, Max Fried and Valdez.
In the past four seasons starting in 2022, the durable Valdez leads all left-handed pitchers with 767.2 innings (105.0 more than his next closest foe), 83 quality starts (19 more than his next closest foe), 750 strikeouts (51 more), 57 wins (five more) and a 61.0 ground ball percentage; is second with 121 starts (only four shy of the leader); is tied for third-lowest with an average of 0.68 homers allowed per nine innings; and is seventh with a .620 winning percentage (57-35).
Valdez enjoyed a breakout season in 2021 (11-6, 3.14 ERA in 22 starts) before earning his first All-Star honor and placing fifth in A.L. Cy Young Award voting in 2022 when he went 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA in 31 starts while leading the league with 201.1 innings pitched. He set a major league record with 25-straight quality starts, led the league with three complete games, was second in wins, fourth in win percentage (.739) and seventh in strikeouts (194). His dominance continued in the postseason as he went 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts, all Astros wins, including a pair of World Series victories.
The southpaw turned in another All-Star campaign in 2023 (12-11, 3.45 ERA, 31 starts), which included a no-hitter on August 1 vs. Cleveland, before posting the best season by bWAR (4.4) of his career in 2024 when he went 15-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 28 starts, finishing seventh in Cy Young voting.
Valdez went 13-11 with a 3.66 ERA and 3.8 bWAR last year and notched 31 starts for the third time in the past four seasons, joining Patrick Corbin, Yusei Kikuchi and Carlos Rodon as the only southpaws in baseball to turn that trick.
A native of Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic, Valdez is a career 81-52 with a 3.36 ERA and nine complete games in 188 major league outings, 166 as a starter, covering the last eight seasons. He has averaged nearly a strikeout per inning pitched (1,053 strikeouts in 1,080.2 innings) while allowing only 0.7 home runs per nine innings. Valdez has qualified for the playoffs five times (2020-24) and made 17 appearances, 16 starts, with an 7-6 record and a 4.34 ERA. He originally signed with Houston as a non-drafted free agent in 2015.