Like every competent team in baseball, the Giants were in on the hot-shot Japanese free-agent pitcher, who, like Shohei Ohtani before him, is limited to signing a minor-league deal with a Major League team. That massively discounted rate allowed every team to sign him.

Justin Verlander and the San Francisco Giants have finalized a $15 million, one-year contract. A three-time AL Cy Young Award winner, Verlander joins a projected rotation led by All-Star right-hander Logan Webb.

Verlander was way better than his numbers with the Astros in 2024, and there's almost no such thing as a risky one-year deal. Look for him to pad his Hall of Fame resume.