What does a 29-year-old pitcher coming off a Cy Young-winning season get in his final year of arbitration eligibility? Well, in Max Scherzer’s case Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that he’s avoided arbitration with the Tigers for $15.525 million.
That’s a huge jump from the $6.725 million Scherzer made last season, when he won an AL-best 21 games while throwing 214 innings with a 2.90 ERA and 240 strikeouts.
There’s been a ton of speculation about the Tigers possibly trading Scherzer before he can leave as a free agent next offseason and certainly a $15.525 million price tag for his final team-controlled season shows why Detroit may have trouble keeping him (and agent Scott Boras) off the open market.
