Max Scherzer is hands down the best starting pitcher on the free agent market right now, but he's been garnering little interest because of his contract demands. Are any teams in play for the right-hander?
Well, if you were to ask Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, he would tell you no. He appeared on MLB Tonight on Monday and said "nobody has really been tied to Scherzer at this point." He mentioned some owners met him in Los Angeles over the last few days and some spoke to his agent, Scott Boras at the MLB Winter Meetings, but it's unknown exactly who. As a result, there is no way to narrow down his destinations at this point.
One can only assume only the big market teams are involved since he's looking for a $200 million contract. Heyman notes the only offer Scherzer received was from the Detroit Tigers back in spring training when they presented him with a six-year, $144 million contract. He would have made his 2014 salary of $15.525 million on top of that, which would have totaled about $159 million. Many teams could be using that as a baseline for a potential offer, but Heyman thinks it will be more in the $170 million range.
On the other hand, FOX Sports' Jon Morosi has a bit of a different take on Scherzer. He believes the New York Yankees are "absolutely" interested and in the mix for the right-hander. Morosi notes the Yankees are already over the luxury tax mark of $189 million and they don't have a reliable ace since the health of a number of their starters is in question, which point to their eventual pursuit of the right-hander.
He compares this situation to the Yankees' courtship of first baseman Mark Teixeira prior to the 2009 season. New York was said to have been in and out on Teixeira during that year, kind of like how they were with Scherzer this offseason until President Randy Levine said the team is highly unlikely to bid on him. In a winnable American League East division, Morosi believes the Yankees will be keeping an eye on Scherzer.
Over the past three seasons, the 30-year-old has compiled a 55-15 record with a 3.24 ERA in 97 starts with the Tigers. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2013 and has been an All-Star over the past two years.
