February 7, 2025

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

Max Scherzer clearly isn’t your typical 40-year-old starting pitcher.

When spring training opens on Feb. 13 in Dunedin, he won’t be fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation or hoping to serve as depth.

But what can the organization expect from a three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series champion entering his 18th big league season?

If you ask Scherzer, plenty.

“I’m not just playing to play. I want to play to win,” Scherzer said at his first media availability on Friday afternoon since signing his one-year, $15.5 million contract with the team.

“I feel like Toronto offered that.”

Scherzer approached his first meeting with the media similar to how he attacks an opposing hitter: head on and with an intensity that’s hard to match.

He now joins a veteran rotation that features Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and the familiar Chris Bassitt, who Scherzer was teammates with during their time with the New York Mets.

Some of that familiarity appears to have helped bring him north of the border as talks between the two sides heated up in recent weeks.

“It ebbs and flows, I respect the process,” Scherzer said of his free agency.

“Toronto was the most serious in pursuing me. I knew some guys there so I kind of got some back stories of everything that goes on within the clubhouse. I asked some questions and felt comfortable with what Toronto was offering.”

One of the biggest questions surrounding Scherzer as his Blue Jays tenure begins is his health.

Back surgery in late 2023, followed by a shoulder injury and hamstring issue during the 2024 season limited him to nine starts a year ago. Despite the setbacks, he still managed a respectable 3.95 ERA over 43 1/3 innings.

But the Blue Jays will expect and need more if they hope to compete in the ultra-competitive American League East.

“Very good, actually,” Scherzer said of how he feels physically.

“I’ve had a very good offseason so far. I’ve been able to do everything normal, normal ramp up with lifting, normal ramp up in the throwing, right where I need to be in terms of my bullpen progression. So, I’m looking to come into spring training at full tilt.”

It’s a progression the Blue Jays brass will certainly monitor closely throughout the next five to six weeks.

Having a healthy rotation is paramount and Scherzer knows what he has to do to be ready when the games begin to count.

“Success of spring training is the proper ramp up,” he said.

“Going through the little aches and pains of spring training as you navigate. Obviously, it’s one of the most dangerous times of year. We see the most amount of injuries across the game at this point in time. I’ve done this enough, I know exactly, almost down to the day, what it takes to be ready for opening day.”

As for what the addition of the right-hander does to the rest of the pitching staff, it allows the option of shifting Yariel Rodriguez to the bullpen for additional depth there. Although Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said Rodriguez will be given the opportunity to compete for the fifth starter spot in the rotation.

When it comes to the entirety of the roster, any further additions are likely to come via trade as opposed to the free agent market, Atkins said.

It was an interesting comment given Scott Boras, Scherzer’s agent who also represents free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, was on the call.

“We’ll never stop on that front,” Atkins said.

“I think at this point it would require a trade for us to add to the team. It doesn’t have too, but would most likely be the case.”

Regardless if the front office is able to swing anymore deals to bolster the roster, Scherzer’s focus remains unchanged.

“Win a World Series, that’s it,” Scherzer said.

“Winning cures everything.”