Friday, January 25, 2013
Scherzer's arbitration case
By Jason A. Churchill
Detroit Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer is looking for $7.4 million on a one-year deal for 2013, with the club offering $6.05 million, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. There's no reason to believe the two sides won't come to an agreement before the hearings in February, though a multi-year contract extension is probably not in the cards -- that's not a cynical stance, see below for details -- which brings up questions about one of Scherzer's teammates and his long-term contract status.
We've discussed this here before -- Scherzer is a Scott Boras client and Boras firmly believes in getting his clients to free agency so he can take advantage of the open market. If I'm the Tigers in this situation, it makes Doug Fister's contract situation that much more critical. Despite having Anibal Sanchez under contract for the next five years, not being able to lock up Scherzer could get pricey and ultimately lead to the right-hander laving via free agency after the 2014 season. Getting Fister signed appears key to sustaining the rotation's long-term stability.
Fister agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal Friday.
Scherzer had a terrific 2012 and could very well win his case if it's get that far. A compromise of sorts is likely, but don't expect along-term pact.
