Max Scherzer will start the Blue Jays’ season finale on Sunday and told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) that he would wait until the offseason before deciding on his longer-term future. Perhaps reflecting Scherzer’s uncertainty, the future Hall of Famer noted that his family will be in attendance tomorrow, just in case the game against the Reds ends up being the final start of his 19-season career.
Such a year-to-year approach is pretty normal for the few players who have played as long as Scherzer, who turned 42 last July. He was more adamant about his desire to return for another season after the 2025 campaign, even if it was immediately after Toronto’s tough loss in Game 7 of the World Series.
As the Blue Jays struggle to set a losing record in 2026 and Scherzer battles another injury-plagued season, the veteran right-hander might consider hanging up his cleats a bit more. The impending lockout is also “a large part of the calculation” for Scherzer, as he told Brittany Ghiroli and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic earlier this week. The lockout will severely interrupt the normal offseason schedule and perhaps even threaten regular season games in 2027, so Scherzer (who has been heavily involved in MLBPA leadership in the past) might prefer to retire rather than this uncertainty.
Scherzer posted a 2.29 ERA over 145 1/3 innings for the Mets in 2022, in what was likely the last time we saw anything close to peak form from the veteran ace. He wasn’t as effective posting a 3.77 ERA in 152 2/3 combined frames with the Mets and Rangers in 2023, but Scherzer pitched better after being dealt to Texas and helped the Rangers win their first championship.
Since that 2023 season, however, various injuries have limited Scherzer to just 206 innings in the regular season, plus 14 1/3 more during the Blue Jays’ playoff run last fall. While he had a 3.77 ERA for the Jays in the postseason, Scherzer had a 5.19 ERA in 85 innings during the 2025 regular season and a 6.14 ERA in 77 2/3 innings this year (plus whatever tomorrow’s start brings). Scherzer’s 18.1% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 2026 are each career-worst, and he struggled mightily keeping the ball in the park during his two years in a Toronto uniform.
The Blue Jays signed Scherzer to a one-year, $15.5 million contract during the 2024-25 offseason, and brought him back for 2026 as part of another one-year pact, this time for just $3 million in guaranteed money. (Scherzer unlocked another $2 million in bonuses, and he can add another $1 million if he throws at least 7 1/3 innings tomorrow.) A similar low-cost, high-incentive contract likely awaits him in free agency this winter, and Scherzer will again prioritize offers from competing clubs. A return to Toronto isn’t entirely out of the question — the Jays value Scherzer’s leadership in the clubhouse, and the club likely wants to have as much pitching depth as possible given the injuries that have ravaged the staff this year.
Whenever Scherzer decides to retire, he will be a first-ballot inductee into Cooperstown five years after the fact. Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight-time All-Star during his 19 seasons with the Diamondbacks, Tigers, Nationals, Dodgers, Mets, Rangers and Blue Jays, and he won World Series rings in Washington and Texas. Scherzer has 224 career wins and his 3,550 strikeouts rank ninth on the all-time list, just four Ks behind. Justin Verlander for eighth place. Since Verlander is having the final start of his career today, it creates an interesting dynamic and perhaps a target for Scherzer heading into Sunday’s outing.
Gn sports
