Max Scherzer to sign 1-year, $15.5 million deal with Blue Jays: Report

Max Scherzer will continue his Hall of Fame career with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner agreed to a one-year, $15.5 million contract, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The Blue Jays appeared to confirm the report with a tweet of two differently colored circles, an apparent nod to Scherzer's heterochromia.

Scherzer had been rumored for weeks to be a potential match with the Blue Jays, who entered the offseason in search of some starting pitching, among other things. They were among the three finalists for Roki Sasaki, who would've been their top target, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post also noted that they were in on starters Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.

After losing Sasaki to the Dodgers, the Jays brought in a former Dodgers starter. Scherzer is four years removed from his most recent All-Star berth and eight years removed from winning the Cy Young, but he has remained effective in the recent, journeyman portion of his career.

The bigger issue for Scherzer over the past few years has been health. He missed time in 2023 due to a back strain, came back in time to help the Rangers win the World Series, then got shut down again before undergoing surgery on a herniated disc. He didn't make his 2024 debut until June and returned to the injured list twice due to shoulder fatigue and a hamstring strain.

Scherzer will join a Blue Jays rotation that has plenty of veteran talent in Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt. Scherzer was ranked No. 42 on Yahoo Sports' list of MLB free agents.

Toronto still has some items on its to-do list, but it can at least say it has landed some notable talents. In addition to Scherzer, the team signed slugger Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92.5 million deal, signed reliever Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33 million deal and traded for second baseman Andrés Giménez.

What to make of this deal for Scherzer and the Jays?

It wasn’t much of a mystery what kind of contract Scherzer would command after fellow veteran right-handers Alex Cobb, Charlie Morton and Justin Verlander all inked one-year, $15M pacts earlier this winter, but it took a while for Scherzer's potential landing spots to crystalize. Ultimately, the Blue Jays emerged as the strongest candidates to secure the future Hall of Famer’s services, and a deal came together less than two weeks before pitchers and catchers will report to spring training.

Having already addressed their needs for power and bullpen help with Anthony Santander and Jeff Hoffman, Toronto has now tabbed Scherzer as their salve for a rotation that also needed reinforcing. Add the December acquisition of second baseman Andrés Giménez to vastly improve the club’s infield defense, and the Jays have upgraded nearly every facet of their club this winter. Extending Vladimir Guerrero Jr. remains the most consequential decision facing Toronto this offseason, but the club has unquestionably gotten better across the board this winter.

Have the Jays improved enough to warrant consideration as legitimate postseason contenders coming off a last-place finish in 2024? If Scherzer can stay healthy for a full season, there’s a good bit to be excited about in the rotation, which features three other highly accomplished right-handers in Gausman, Berríos and Bassitt. If Bowden Francis’ surprising second-half breakout from last season was legit, this could end up being one of the stronger units in the American League. However, those are some pretty big "ifs." Scherzer, who turns 41 in June, made only nine starts in 2023 and has navigated myriad ailments in recent years.

Toronto will still need a lot to go right on both sides of the ball to compete in the unforgiving AL East, but credit to them for pushing aggressively to improve the roster, even after several failed free-agent pursuits earlier in the offseason. — Shusterman