Framber Valdez, the two-time All-Star and World Series-winning left-hander and the last elite arm on the free agent market, agreed to a startling three-year, $115 million contract with the Detroit Tigers, ESPN reported Feb. 4, creating a potent punch atop the rotation for the 2026 season.
Valdez will team with two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal in Motown for, likely, one season only. Skubal becomes a free agent after this season and spent his Wednesday in an arbitration hearing with the Tigers; he’s seeking $32 million while the Tigers countered at $19 million, with a decision due later this week.
In the meantime, Detroit was hammering out an agreement with, potentially, Skubal’s less-decorated successor. And Valdez ended up signing for the highest average annual value − $38.3 million − given to a left-handed free agent.
Valdez, 32, has been among the more durable pitchers in the major leagues since seizing a full-time spot in the Houston Astros’ rotation in 2021. His best campaign came in 2022, when he pitched a career-best 201⅓ innings with a 2.82 ERA and three complete games, and posted three dominant playoff outings in winning Game 2 starts in both the ALCS and World Series, and the decisive Game 6 against the Philadelphia Phillies to nail down the Astros’ championship.
He becomes the latest high-profile, big-money free agent to depart the Astros in recent years, joining George Springer, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman. Correa eventually returned to the Astros in a trade last summer, while the Astros traded slugger Kyle Tucker one year before he, too, would have likely walked as a free agent.
In Valdez’s final season in Houston, the Astros’ streak of qualifying for the playoffs ended at eight, as Valdez struck out 187 batters in 192 innings. He was embroiled in a mild controversy when he turned his back after his pitch struck Astros catcher César Salazar in the chest.
Valdez and Salazar were clearly crossed up on which pitch was coming, but Valdez’s remorseless reaction and the fact it came two pitches after Trent Grisham hit a grand slam off the lefty sparked questions that Valdez intentionally deceived Salazar.
The players met with manager Joe Espada after the game and Valdez insisted the cross-up wasn’t intentional. Valdez earned All-Star berths in 2022 and 2023, and three times has finished in the top 10 in AL Cy Young Award voting.
His signing will disappoint a handful of potential suitors, most notably the Baltimore Orioles, who lurked as a potential favorite as the winter dragged on and Valdez remained unsigned. Instead, Valdez will form a stout rotation in Detroit with Skubal, Jack Flaherty and 2025 All-Star Casey Mize.
Even if just for one season.