High-Profile MLB Free Agent Has Italian Family Ties
Unbeknownst to many, one of the top Major League Baseball Free Agents of 2022 has Italian lineage.
Verlander’s maternal grandmother, Olympia Caponi, is the daughter of Louis Caponi and Mildred Caponi, who were of Italian heritage.
The two-time World Series Champion agreed to an $86.7 million, two-year contract with the New York Mets. In Queens, Verlander will reunite with ex-teammate, AL Cy Young Award winner, Max Scherzer.
The contract is worth $43,333,333 per season and includes a vesting player option for 2025 at $35 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because there was no immediate announcement.
In addition to having Italian blood on his mother’s family’s side, Verlander married supermodel Kate Upton in Tuscany in November of 2017 at the luxurious Rosewood Castiglion Del Bosco resort.