Having made his big league debut in 2008, 41-year-old Max Scherzer is still going strong at the top level. Over the course of his career, the starter has earned eight All-Star selections, three Cy Young awards, and two All-MLB First Team selections, while also winning the World Series twice.
He has represented some of the biggest franchises in the sport, such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, LA Dodgers, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers. In 2025, Scherzer added a new team to the list: the Toronto Blue Jays.
Once the 2025 season wrapped up, Max Scherzer entered free agency once again, and plenty of teams showed an interest in potentially signing the veteran. Several reports also linked the San Francisco Giants to the future Hall of Famer, especially because of Giants manager Tony Vitello’s strong relationship with Scherzer.
Vitello was one of the pitching coaches at Missouri and helped guide Scherzer to being named Big 12 pitcher of the year before he was a first-round draft pick in 2006. The pair are still quite close to this day.
Scherzer eventually decided to run it back with the Blue Jays, signing another one-year contract with the team on Thursday. The minimum guaranteed value of the contract is $3 million, though performance-related incentives could take the total salary up to $10 million.
Making an appearance on Friday’s episode of “Foul Territory,” Tony Vitello offered some insight into the Giants’ pursuit of Max Scherzer. Though Vitello revealed that he has been in contact with Scherzer over the offseason, he also admitted that things never progressed into contract negotiation territory.
“We never really crossed that line. I don’t know if it was mutual respect or probably something else. I would always joke with everyone like, ‘It’s not like I’m inviting this guy to a Halloween party, you know, or a social event.’ Again, there’s got to be a match, and there’s contract and things involved,” Vitello said.
“I just know, there’s a really good back and forth between he and the Blue Jays, an immense appreciation for one-another. It’s not my business to talk about his deal, but he’s pretty East Coast flavored right now, he’s got four kids, both sets of grandparents are there. It’s a great match. So I’m happy for him. The group chat smack talk has already started, but it’s all very light hearted.”
Max Scherzer Explains Why He Was Keen To Re-Sign With The Toronto Blue Jays
Featuring on Thursday’s episode of “Blair and Barker,” Max Scherzer explained why the Jays were always the team he was keen to return to if the opportunity presented itself.
“So as I was training, everything felt great in my body, as I was progressing up and ramping up my workouts and throwing. Just didn’t know how it was going to unfold. It was going to be very, very picky of where I wanted to play,” Scherzer said.
“If things didn’t work out that way, maybe we’d have a different conversation. But things did. Toronto was definitely a team I wanted to come back to… it was a great fit not just for me, but for my family as well,” he added.
The 2026 season will be Max Scherzer’s 19th at the major league level.
Read More:
MLB Injury Update: Blake Snell Facing Opening Day Uncertainty as José Berríos Declares “I’m Back”
