WASHINGTON -- Right-hander Max Scherzer agreed to terms on a seven-year deal with the Nationals late Sunday night, a source told MLB.com. The value of the contract is $210 million.
Scherzer, arguably the best free agent this offseason, joins a pitching staff that led the Major Leagues with a 3.03 ERA in 2014. Scherzer is familiar with general manager Mike Rizzo, who drafted the right-hander in the first round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft when Rizzo was the scouting director for the D-backs.
Sent to Detroit as part of a three-team trade in December 2009, Scherzer went on to blossom with the Tigers, winning 82 games over five seasons and capturing the American League Cy Young Award in '13.During the Baseball Winter Meetings in December, Rizzo said the Nationals would not acquire a big-name pitcher unless they traded one of their starting pitchers. Yet both Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister, who are free agents after 2015, remain on the roster.Zimmermann and Fister were Washington's two best pitchers last season. Zimmermann won 14 games and pitched the team's first no-hitter on the last day of the season.Fister, who was once a teammate of Scherzer's in Detroit, missed the first month of the season because of a lat strain, but led the team in victories with 16 and had a 2.41 ERA.
Bill Ladson/MLB.com
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