What was reported late Sunday night by our own Jon Heyman is now official: the Nationals have signed right-hander Max Scherzer to a seven-year contract. The team announced the signing in a press release on Wednesday morning before holding an introductory press conference.
Scherzer was given uniform No. 31 -- No. 37, his old number with the Tigers, currently belongs to Stephen Strasburg -- and said all the right things. He went to the Nats because he wants to win and win a lot, he said. Scherzer did also admit the money was hard to turn down though.
"It was jaw-dropping. You can't even fathom it," said Scherzer when asked about his react to the $210 million offer. "You work so hard to put yourself in this position. For me -- like I said, it's all about winning, I don't play this game for money -- but at the same time, when you have an offer like that, it just makes you go 'wow.' I'm very fortunate to be in this position. Very fortunate that they were willing to commit that type of dollar amount to me."
Here's video of the entire press conference:
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo originally drafted Scherzer when he was the Diamondbacks' scouting director back in 2006. Nats manager Matt Williams also managed Scherzer in Double-A years ago, so the staff knows him and he knows the staff.
Washington now has six starters for five rotation spots and it remains to be seen how things will shake out. Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister have all been mentioned as trade candidates, and I'm sure there have been discussions about Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark as well.
