DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Mad Max is back.
Max Scherzer and the Blue Jays have agreed to terms on a reunion for the 2026 season, a source told MLB.com. The club didn't confirm the deal. The structure of the agreement, reported by Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi as a base salary of $3 million with up to $10 million in incentives, adds another fascinating layer.
Scherzer and the Blue Jays have remained engaged throughout the offseason, even as the Blue Jays signed Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to round out an already crowded rotation. The realities of Toronto’s rotation paired with the timing and structure of the deal clearly point towards this being a long-term play for the Blue Jays -- not a rush for Opening Day -- but exactly how that will look is still to be determined.
Two things are certain, though. John Schneider will be the happiest man in Dunedin this morning and the Blue Jays’ clubhouse just got one of its most important pieces back.
“We’ve known him for a while now, and last year, when you meet a guy of that caliber and that personality, you want to take time to get to know them. We know him,” Schneider said. “He can still help us win games. All of the other stuff that he does, too, everyone appreciates -- and I appreciate it.”
Schneider has often called Scherzer one of his favorite players he’s ever managed. Scherzer is an obsessive competitor. Most days throughout the season, Scherzer would spend long stretches of time in Schneider’s office, feverishly discussing everything from pitch sequencing to the positioning of the Blue Jays’ outfielders and the meaning of life itself. He doesn’t have an off switch.
The logistics of this still need some clarity, but by the time we see a healthy, built-up Scherzer pitching for the Blue Jays, this organization also needs those innings to be valuable.
Any manager will tell you that a team can never have enough starting pitching, and now Schneider’s job will be to piece this together in the best way for everyone involved.
“That is true any year, and definitely when you’re dealing with playing as deep into the season as we did last year,” Schneider said. “There’s no perfect science to it. There are going to be bumps in the road at some point. Sometimes, that’s in spring. Sometimes, that’s midseason or late in the season.
"The goal is to win. The goal is to win right now, get back to where we were and win the World Series this year. However we can make ourselves better, we’re going to.”
Scherzer has already been throwing bullpen sessions and facing live hitters, which he’ll continue to do after joining the club this weekend in Dunedin and going through his physicals.
At this time last year, we were talking about Scherzer’s thumb. It’s an issue that Scherzer had already battled with in past seasons, so he knew -- and could explain in great detail -- the dangers of trying to push through that thumb issue by compensating with other parts of his throwing arm. As long as those health issues stay behind the 41-year-old this season, we can stick to baseball.
On the mound, Scherzer had flashes of greatness, particularly that stretch through late July and early August, which began with him striking out 11 batters over seven innings against the Tigers. That faded down the stretch, but after Scherzer was left off the ALDS roster, he returned to make his most memorable start with the Blue Jays in Game 4 of the ALCS in Seattle, when he famously barked Schneider back down the mound when his manager came out for a visit.
Scherzer is a surefire Hall of Famer. He’s 37 innings away from 3,000 in his career and has won three Cy Young Awards to go along with his eight All-Star appearances and two World Series rings. The fire hasn’t gone out, though. After the Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Dodgers, Scherzer immediately made it clear that he had not thrown his last pitch.
“I’m 41 years old. I didn’t know I could love baseball this much,” Scherzer said that night. “My love for the game is so strong because of their love for the game.”
Now, he’s back. Scherzer wants one more shot, and it’s a testament to what the Blue Jays have built that he wants to do this in Toronto.