Texas Rangers GM: Max Scherzer 'Perfect Fit' For Rotation
Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young said that Max Scherzer was a “perfect fit” for what the club needs right now, which is reinforcements to its starting rotation.
Young spoke to Scherzer by phone on Sunday and expects to see him in Arlington on Monday for a bullpen session.
“We landed the player that we felt like is going to help us get to where want to go this year,” Young said.
The Rangers last made a postseason appearance in 2016.
The Rangers acquired Scherzer for infielder Luisangel Acuña, one of the organization’s top prospects. While the Rangers also got financial offsets for Scherzer’s salary — which is $43.3 million per year through 2024 — the Rangers also got Scherzer to trigger his 2024 option, meaning he’ll complete his deal with Texas.
In other words, they’re stuck with each other, which means the Rangers needed to take time to get it right. While the action seemed to happen in a flurry on Saturday — including reports of a hang-up on Scherzer’s option year — the conversations between the two teams were happening several days before the agreement.
“The talks probably initiated before Friday,” Young said. “I’m not sure about the exact day. There were conversations well before that (Saturday).”
Scherzer is 38 and has a World Series ring with the Washington Nationals in 2019. He’s won three Cy Young Awards and been to eight All-Star games. This season he is 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA. He has also had side and back issues this season, along with oblique issues last season.
He comes to the Rangers as a time when his former Mets teammate, Jacob deGrom, is out for the season after Tommy John surgery and Nathan Eovaldi — the Rangers’ best starter this season — is on the 15-day injured list.
So getting Scherzer to agree to trigger the option was an important part of the process, as it gives the Rangers some security in its rotation next season. The Rangers will only be on the hook for $22.5 million of the remainder of $130 million, three-year deal that Scherzer signed with the Mets before the 2022 season. It reunites him with Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, who guided Scherzer in two of his Cy Young seasons in Washington.
It also sends a message to the rest of the team, one that Young hopes resonates after the Rangers are set to enter August with a slim lead in the American League West over the Houston Astros.
“We said coming into this season that we wanted to play meaningful games and compete in the postseason, and these guys have succeeded in putting us in this position to go out and be aggressive and add to this club and we owe it to them to do that,” Young said. “I think, landing Max, is huge for their psyche.”
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