With the Chicago Cubs still looking to add another arm to their starting rotation, should they look to take a flier on this future Hall of Famer?
The Chicago Cubs have been on the hunt to find the last piece to finish their offseason puzzle with finding another starter for their rotation. So far that has not happened, but a move could be soon incoming according to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic who says the Cubs will add another pitcher in the coming weeks. One of those pitchers the Chicago Cubs should be looking into signing is the future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer.
Max Scherzer
Max Scherzer was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first-round, eleventh overall in the 2006 June MLB Amateur Draft from the University of Missouri. Now 40-years-old Max Scherzer has carved out a remarkable 17-year-career in Major League Baseball in which he has put up Hall of Fame numbers with having a record of 216-112 with a 3.16 ERA, with having 3407 strikeouts (eleventh all time), in 2878 innings of work.
When on the field for the Texas Rangers in 2024, Scherzer showed that he was still capable of getting guys out with starting nine games where he had a record of 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA, 40 strikeouts, a 1.154 WHIP, in 43.1 innings of work. The problem for Scherzer in 2024 wasn’t that he couldn’t still perform but that he was not able to stay healthy like he has shown he is able to do during his career.
Coming into 2024 already banged up with having back surgery in the offseason prior to the 2024 season, as well as having a thumb issue that slowed down his rehab assignment, Scherzer also had his shoulder start acting up around August which forced the Rangers to shut Scherzer down forcing him to miss the rest of the season. Max Scherzer has said he wants to still pitch in 2025 telling the Dallas Morning News:
“When I’m out there, I’ve been able to compete, I look at things like my slider, which I went into the season wanting to fix, and it’s been really good. I still see myself as able to compete and win.”
Why should the Chicago Cubs take a chance on Max Scherzer?
With Scherzer still having the energy to pitch and looking to show that he can still bring it even at 40-years-old could him proving to be one of the players likely to have a bounce-back season in 2025. The Chicago Cubs should be able to land Max Scherzer on a one-year deal similar to the one that the Baltimore Orioles just gave out to another veteran right-hander Charlier Morton who signed for one-year $15 million. Given that he missed the better part of last season and health is a concern for Scherzer, maybe the Chicago Cubs could get Scherzer to sign a deal for somewhere in the range of $10-13 million for just the one year.
If for some reason or another the Cubs didn’t want to use Max Scherzer for the rotation if they signed him, he could figure to be an excellent weapon out of the bullpen. Granted he hasn’t worked out of the bullpen since his rookie year, but being he’s a veteran and has the stuff capable of doing it he could make the transition easily and find success there. Being that he is forty and this upcoming season possibly being his last, why not just go let him eat and unleash all he has left pairing him with future closer Porter Hodge.
Signing Max Scherzer to a one-year deal wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Cubs to do given their need for a starter and there being no such thing as a “bad one-year deal”. Scherzer can only add to the Chicago Cubs and not detract. And being that he has been there and done that with winning the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals he would bring valuable experience to a mostly inexperienced team.
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