The biggest name available this year’s MLB Free Agency sweepstakes has finally signed, as 2013 Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer has agreed to a deal with the Washington Nationals. There were rumors that a deal was close yesterday afternoon, with the finalizing of the contract happening in in the early morning, and broken by Jon Heyman of CBS, and William Ladson of mlb.com. The deal is reportedly worth over of $180 million, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. The deal has not been officially announced, but this is expected to happen as soon as all the paperwork is officially signed, and physicals concluded.
Max scherzer has an agreement on a 7-year deal with nats. Dollars are not known.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) January 19, 2015
I have confirmed that Max Scherzer has reached an agreement with the #Nationals.#Nats #MLB
— William Ladson (@washingnats) January 19, 2015
Source: Scherzer seven-year deal with #Nationals will be for more than $180M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 19, 2015
EDIT: Rosenthal is now reporting the deal is worth upwards of $210 million, including a $50 million signing bonus.
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
So, in the end, Scherzer gets $66M more from #Nationals than #Tigers offered. Present-day value of $210M will be lower due to deferrals.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 19, 2015
Confirming what @JeffPassan reported earlier: Scherzer gets $50M signing bonus, spread over several years. DC does not tax non-residents.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 19, 2015
The 30-year-old Scherzer has been dominant over the past two seasons. In 2013 he won the American League Cy Young, posting a 21-3 record in 214.1 innings with a 2.90 ERA, and 0.97 WHIP. In 2014 he was 18-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 220.1 and 1.18 WHIP. Scherzer has a 492/119 K/BB ratio over that time.
In signing Scherzer, the Nationals forfeit their first round pick, 27th overall, in the 2015 MLB Amateur draft to the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers had made a qualifying offer to Scherzer.
The move means that the Nationals currently boast a rotation including Scherzer, Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, and Scherzer’s Tiger’s teammate Doug Fister. The five-man unit is undoubtedly the best in baseball on paper right now.
Scherzer’s signing likely means that other free agent pitchers such as James Shields should now garner a bit more interest from teams who missed out on Scherzer.
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