The 2013 AL Cy Young winner has agreed to a seven-year deal with the Washington Nationals. Max Scherzer will now join a rotation that consists of Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported that the Nationals were in contract talks with Scherzer and he later confirmed the two sides agreed to a deal early Monday morning. Although Heyman said the details of the seven-year contract were unknown, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported it's believed to be worth more than $180 million.
Now Rosenthal officially reported the deal is worth $210 million and Scherzer will receive $15 million per year over the course of 14 years.
Up until this point in the offseason, the market for Scherzer was largely nonexistent after the right-hander rejected the Detroit Tigers' six-year, $144 million extension last offseason. It was believed big market teams such as the Tigers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels and others were the likely landing spots for Scherzer. Washington was always loosely considered to be in the discussion, but because of their payroll situation and solidified starting rotation, many believed it would have taken a number of moves for them to sign Scherzer to the lucrative deal he wanted.
Such moves included trading starters Jordan Zimmermann or Doug Fister, who will both become free agents after the 2015 season. Zimmermann will earn $16.5 million and Fister will collect $11.4 million this year and both were the Nats top arms in 2014. However, it was speculated the team would look to trade Zimmermann first and foremost because the two couldn't agree to an extension and the right-hander is 28 years old (in the prime of his career) compared to Fister, who will be 31 by the start of next season.
But now, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Nationals plan to keep Zimmermann and are going all-in for the 2015 season. Nothing has been said about Fister, but if they decide to keep him it looks like Tanner Roark will be moved to the bullpen since the rotation will consist of Scherzer, Strasburg, Zimmermann, Fister and Gio Gonzalez. Washington's payroll will be a bit higher in 2015 than they originally planned, but Zimmermann, Fister, outfielder Denard Span, shortstop Ian Desmond and reliever Matt Thornton will come off the books after this season and relieve them of over $50 million.
However, we can't rule anything out since this has been one of the most surprising and unprecedented offseasons in recent memory.
