Jays' Scherzer delays decision on future until offseason — SkimNews
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- Max Scherzer told reporters Saturday he will decide after the season whether to pitch a 20th major league year in 2027, before his expected short-rest start against Cincinnati in Sunday's season finale — a chance to pitch in front of his family for the final time this year.
- Scherzer is 3-9 with a career-worst 6.14 ERA in 17 starts this season, after going 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts with the Blue Jays in 2025.
- The 42-year-old owns a career record of 224-126 across 500 games (491 starts) and pushed his career strikeout total to 3,550 with seven Ks in five innings against Baltimore last Wednesday.
- Scherzer moved into ninth on the all-time strikeout list last month with a 10-strikeout game against Seattle, passing Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry — the 115th double-digit strikeout game of his career.
- Justin Verlander, 43, is the only other active pitcher above 3,500 career strikeouts (3,554 entering Saturday) and announced in July that 2025 would be his final season.
- Scherzer signed a $3 million, one-year contract with Toronto in February and has earned an additional $2 million in performance bonuses tied to reaching 65 and 75 innings pitched.
Why it matters: With Verlander already confirmed as retiring, Scherzer's offseason call would end an era in which two of the last three active 3,500-strikeout pitchers exit at once; for Toronto, the decision also carries direct cost implications — Scherzer's incentives have already lifted his 2025 earnings to $5 million on a $3 million base.
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