UPDATED:
After recent speculation that the Cardinals could make a run at signing top starting pitching and St. Louis native Max Scherzer was all but completely squashed by General Manager John Mozeliak and team management over the weekend, it appears Scherzer will be pitching in the nation’s capital in 2015 and well beyond.
The Washington Nationals have signed Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million deal, according to numerous sources including Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, who was first to report the deal, and Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, who first reported on the contract’s $210 million value. Rosenthal reports that half of the money is deferred, meaning that Scherzer will receive $15 million per season for the next 14 years, (through 2028) from the Nationals.
Source: Scherzer deal with #Nationals is seven years, $210M with half deferred. He will receive $15M per year for 14 years.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 19, 2015
Scherzer’s deal includes a $50 million signing bonus that will be paid out over a portion of time due to tax purposes, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports and Rosenthal. That bonus is presumably included in the $210 million total, although that is not fully clear at this time. Due to the deferrals, Passan notes that the total value the contract will end up being less than $210 million. Passan estimated around $185 million. The deferral of money in the contract is easily the largest in MLB contract history. Here are some more details on the contract from Rosenthal and other reporters: Scherzer Signs w/Nats
Scherzer, who spent the last five years with the Detroit Tigers, is set to join an already stellar Nationals rotation that includes the likes of Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, and Gio Gonzalez, however Zimmermann has been tied to numerous trade rumors throughout the winter and Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reported on Sunday that the Nationals are also willing to listen to offers for Strasburg. Regardless of whether the club trades one of their top-tier starters or not, the team appears in line to have the best rotation in the majors.
Scherzer, 30, will be under contract with the team through 2021, his age 36 season. The 2013 Cy Young Award winner, who was widely considered the top free agent player available this offseason, posted his second consecutive 200-inning season in 2014, going 18-5 with 252 strikeouts over 220 1/3 innings while posting a 3.15 ERA.
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo drafted Scherzer in the first round of the 2006 draft while working a vice president of scouting for the Diamondbacks. After two solid years in Arizona, Scherzer was traded to the Tigers during the 2009 offseason, and since then the right-hander was averaged 203 innings and 216 strikeouts per year. His 723 strikeouts since 2012 leads all major-league pitchers.
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Feature image used under Creative Commons from Keith Allison. No changes made. Image license.
