Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo continues to make his franchise better each year, this time reeling in the biggest fish of this offseason. Free agent right-handed starting pitcher Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals have agreed to a seven-year deal according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. It is a historic deal worth $210 million dollars along with a $50 million dollar signing bonus. He will receive $15 million per year for 14 years. The amount of the deal came out Monday morning as initially when the news broke last night the numbers were unclear.
According to agent Scott Boras, Scherzer rejected a seven-year, $160 million extension offer from the Detroit Tigers last spring. As it turns out, Boras and Scherzer made the right decision turning that contract down.
Boras gave indications going into the winter meetings last month he was looking for a record payout for his prized ace. The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw ($215 million), Detroit’s Justin Verlander ($180 million), and Seattle’s Felix Hernandez ($175 million) had signed the three biggest contracts by starting pitchers in baseball history. Unlike Scherzer, they all signed contract extensions before hitting the open market.
The Nationals were not expected to have the financial flexibility to sign Scherzer unless they had a trade in place to move Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, or possibly shortstop Ian Desmond. These three trade candidates will all be free agents next winter. The NL East champions have arguably the most polished starting rotation in the league, but a deal of another player still appears likely.
The Nationals would place Scherzer near the top of a powerhouse rotation with Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg, Doug Fister, and Gio Gonzalez. Adding the right-hander ace to the mix strengthens the Nats’ case as a favorite to repeat as division champs. The Nationals are unlikely to begin the season with such a starting staff, though, with Zimmerman remaining the top candidate to depart.
Even more interesting is the possibility of the Nats trading a different ace-caliber pitcher. According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, the Nationals would be willing to move Stephen Strasburg if no team is willing to give them the type of return they are looking to get for Zimmerman. Strasburg, the former number one overall pick, will be a free agent following the 2016 season.
Scherzer, 30, was 18-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 2014, a year after going 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA. He won the 2013 AL Cy Young award and has been voted to the All-Star team the past two seasons. Overall, he is a career 91-50 with a 3.58 ERA in seven seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers, recording the last 70 of those wins with the Tigers.
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The loss of Max Scherzer now arguably leaves questions for the AL Central champions. In December, the Tigers traded right-handed starter Rick Porcello to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes, with many speculating that they were planning to re-sign their ace. Instead, the Tigers appear set to begin the season with a rotation of Justin Verlander, David Price, Anibal Sanchez, Alfredo Simon, and Shane Greene.
One major issue, though, is that Verlander has become less effective the last two seasons. The former Cy Young award winner and AL MVP’s ERA blew up to 4.54 in 2014. Sanchez also looks to get back on the healthy side after only making 21 starts this past season and going 8-5 with a 3.43 ERA.
The Tigers were on and off about re-signing Scherzer, but GM Dave Dombrowski insisted that his club was inactive in the discussion of signing any such free agent starters this offseason. Scherzer has spent the past five years in the Motor City after being traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks in December 2009. That trade worked out quite well for the Tigers, but with Scherzer and Austin Jackson gone, they are no longer reaping the direct benefits from it.
Many high-profile clubs were linked to Max Scherzer this winter including the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Dodgers. The St. Louis Cardinals were reportedly also in the sweepstakes for the righty. Some considered the Cardinals as a front-runner to sign Scherzer, who is a product of the University of Missouri and is from Chesterfield, roughly 30 minutes from Busch Stadium.
At the end of the day, though, none of these teams were able to pull the trigger to agree to Scherzer’s contract demands as he ended up in Washington. The Nationals get an ace, Scherzer gains $66 million more than Tigers originally offered, Scott Boras looks brilliant again, and the Tigers wonder whether their current rotation will be enough to win the AL Central next season.