Almost 41, Max Scherzer Will Take Big Pay Cut To Keep Pitching

By Dan Schlossberg

Had Max Scherzer stayed healthy this season, the Texas Rangers might have been able to defend their unexpected world championship of 2023.

Sadly, that was not the case.

The veteran right-hander will finish this season on the injured list with a hamstring issue, certainly ending his season and probably ending the career with the club.

Free agency beckons and the three-time Cy Young Award winner figures to have plenty of suitors — even though he’ll turn 41 next July.Photo byWikimedia

The oldest American Leaguer not named Justin Verlander, Scherzer made only nine starts this year, pitching 45 1/3 innings — the first time since his 2008 debut that he’s pitched less than 145 1/3 in an uninterrupted season. His average velocity was down to 92.6 mph and his record was 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA.

Injuries certainly interfered. He never fully recovered from off-season back surgery, then had nerve irritation on his throwing hand and triceps even before the hamstring started barking.

He says he wants to pitch next year but could wind up in St. Louis, his home town, or even with one of his former teams in Detroit, a sudden contender, or Washington, where a flock of talented youngsters seem ready to take flight.

An eight-time All-Star with three Cy Young trophies and two no-hitters on his resume and two World Series rings in his possession, Scherzer has more than 3,400 career strikeouts and is virtually certain to wind up in Cooperstown. The 6’3” right-hander has 216 lifetime victories but wants to fatten that total.

He’ll have to take a sizeable pay cut, however, as even Steve Cohen wouldn’t come close to repeating the $43.3 million per annum that lured him to Queens on a two-year deal. The Mets eventually traded him to Texas, paying the Rangers a hefty sum to assume that contract, with the Rangers sending blue-chip infield prospect Luisangel Acuna — a surprise September star this year — the other way.

Should Scherzer leave Texas, he would have recorded a 3.57 ERA in 88 1/3 innings during his time with the team.

He still sports a lifetime earned run average of 3.16, compiled during a 17-year career that spanned both leagues. Scherzer also has a 10.7 ratio of strikeouts to walks.

Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the editor of the forthcoming Here’s The Pitch 2025, to be published Nov. 15. He covers baseball for many outlets, including forbes.com, Memories & Dreams, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, and this newsletter (weekend editions). E.mail Dan via ballauthor@gmail.com.