The Toronto Blue Jays are signing former Detroit Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer to a one-year, $15.5 million contract, according to multiple reports on Thursday.
Scherzer, 40, is an eight-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young Award winner who became a free agent after an injury-plagued 2024 season with the Texas Rangers. He was 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 10 walks in 43⅓ innings over nine starts.
Scherzer’s deal falls in line with several other notable veteran pitchers this offseason, including the Tigers’ deal with right-hander Alex Cobb and the San Francisco Giants’ deal with former Tigers star Justin Verlander — both for one year at $15 million (though Cobb’s deal includes incentives that could bring his pay to $17 million).
THE NEXT GENERATION:5 Detroit Tigers prospects on ESPN’s 101-200 rankings, including Rookie of Year candidate
Scherzer got a late start (June 23) to the 2024 campaign after offseason back surgery, then dealt with right thumb pain, shoulder fatigue and a season-ending hamstring strain in September.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Scherzer is 216-112 with a 3.16 ERA for his 17-year career. He ranks second among active pitchers and 11th all-time with 3,407 strikeouts. He also is second among active pitchers in wins, innings pitched (2,878) and games started (457), fourth in shutouts (five) and ERA, and fifth in complete games (12).
He earned Cy Young awards with the Detroit Tigers in 2013 and the Washington Nationals in 2016 and 2017. He won World Series with the Nationals in 2019 as well as with the Rangers in 2023.
Toronto will be Scherzer’s seventh club after he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2008-09), Tigers (2010-14), Nationals (2015-21), Los Angeles Dodgers (2021), New York Mets (2022-23) and Rangers.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
