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Blue Jays' Max Scherzer contract details have clear Justin Verlander wrinkle

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Jays Journal

New York Mets v Cincinnati Reds / Dylan Buell/GettyImages

After a disastrous start to the offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves on a bit of a roll lately. Jeff Hoffman should be a quality addition to the bullpen, assuming his health holds up, and the Blue Jays finally got a bat in Anthony Santander to check a big item off their to-do list. This week brought yet another big name signing in the form of Max Scherzer.

It probably isn't fair to expect Scherzer to return to the form that he showed from 2013-2022 where he posted a 2.78 ERA and won three Cy Young awards, given that he will turn 41 this coming July. However, he still has major upside, impressive stuff, and valuable experience.

His willingness to join the Blue Jays shows that Toronto can indeed convince players that they could make some noise in 2025 and beyond.

It also probably didn't hurt that the Blue Jays were willing to give Scherzer just a little bit more cash than his long-time rival and contemporary Justin Verlander got from the Giants earlier this offseason. Given the history of the two parties, that feels somewhat purposeful.

Max Scherzer getting a little bit more cash than Justin Verlander from the Blue Jays is kind of perfect

Scherzer and Verlander are inexorably connected at this point, as they are, along with Clayton Kershaw, the absolute best pitchers of their generation. Both pitchers account for many of the best pitching seasons from the last 15 years or so, and will be first ballot Hall of Famers once they become eligible. One cannot talk about the elite pitchers of the 2000s and 2010s without mentioning their names in tandem.

Both Verlander and Scherzer also find themselves in very similar spots in their career right now. Scherzer dealt with lingering injury issues for most of the 2024 season, and Verlander experienced much of the same, as a neck injury limited him to just 17 starts last season.

If you think it is a coincidence that Scherzer got just a little bit more than Verlander, you are fooling yourself. A competitor through and through, it would not be shocking whatsoever if Scherzer was asking to beat Verlander's guarantee in one last bit of gamesmanship between the two. Once upon a time, earnings came between the two of them in Detroit, which Scherzer reflected on when the pair of pitchers recently reunited on the Mets. This time around, in an independent negotiation, Scherzer made sure that wouldn't happen again.

For the Blue Jays, this little competition matters not. What they need from Scherzer is quality innings and a steady voice in their clubhouse. If he can do that, it won't matter one bit how Scherzer does compared to Verlander (except maybe to Scherzer himself).

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.