The three-time Cy Young winner recently threw for “an unspecified number of teams at Cressey Sports Performance in Florida, where he works out during the off-season,” according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
The 40-year-old is still without a team as he enters his 18th MLB season. Coming off an injury-riddled campaign with the Texas Rangers, Scherzer may be looking to prove that he’s ready to handle the rigours of a 162-game season for potential suitors.
In 2024, he only managed to work 43.1 innings, posting a 3.95 ERA, while seeing his average fastball velocity drop to a career-low 92.6 m.p.h. Scherzer was kept off the mound by various ailments, but it was a hamstring strain that ended his season in late September.
So, the question on any interested teams’ minds as they consider bringing in the eight-time All-Star is: Just how productive and healthy will he be in 2025?
“He looked like Max Scherzer,” a source who saw his Florida workout told Feinsand. “His Cy Young days are definitely behind him, but he’s still good enough to be an effective starter.”
It has only been just over a calendar year since we saw Scherzer gutting it out in the World Series, helping the Rangers knock off the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 Fall Classic.
That 2023 season — which saw Scherzer move from the New York Mets to Texas ahead of the trade deadline — might be a blueprint for what Scherzer could be able to provide the team he lands with if he can stay on the mound.
Over 27 starts, the six-foot-three St. Louis native delivered 152.2 innings and a 3.77 ERA while striking 28 per cent of the hitters he faced.
But which team is going to be most willing to take on that risk?
Well, Feinsand reported that a source told him the Toronto Blue Jays “certainly feel like the favourites to get him.”
Additionally, having already earned over $300 million in his career, Scherzer’s priority may be landing in the best spot to chase a third ring.
“You would have to think going to a good situation with a contender is the biggest thing for him. If he signs with a team that underperforms, he’ll be looking at another mid-season trade. It’s hard to imagine that’s what he wants,” another source told Feinsand.
Wherever he does land, Scherzer will get the chance to make some history in his new uniform. He enters 2025 11th on MLB’s all-time strikeout list — nine behind Justin Verlander and 108 behind Walter Johnson.
With spring training less than a month away, Scherzer did his part in pushing the free-agent process forward with his workout for MLB teams. Now, it’s just a waiting game to see which club winds up as the best fit.
