Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer plans to wait until offseason to decide on future

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer said Saturday he will wait until the offseason to decide whether he wants to play a 20th major league season in 2027.

Scherzer, who turned 42 in July, is expected to start on short rest against Cincinnati in Sunday's season finale, a chance to pitch in front of his family for the final time this year.

“I’ve talked to everybody in my inner circle, and we all kind of feel the same way,” Scherzer said of his future. “We don’t need to make a decision today. Get to the off-season and just see how things unfold.”

Scherzer, a past leader of the Major League Baseball Player's Association executive subcommittee, acknowledged that labor unrest could derail whatever plans he makes for 2027.

“We’ve also got a lot of uncertainty next year with all the labor issues,” Scherzer said, “so you just don’t know how the season’s going to happen or unfold, or what opportunity is going to be in front of me.”

A two-time World Series champion and three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer is 3-9 with a career-worst 6.14 ERA in 17 starts this season. He went 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts with the Blue Jays in 2025.

Scherzer has a career record of 224-126 in 500 games, including 491 starts. He started at Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader last Wednesday, allowing four runs in five innings. Scherzer struck out seven, boosting his career total to 3,550.

Last month, Scherzer moved into ninth place on the career strikeout list with a 10-strikeout game against Seattle, passing Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry. It was the first time this season and 115th time in his career that Scherzer had fanned 10 or more in a game.

Former teammate Justin Verlander is the only other active pitcher with more than 3,500 strikeouts. Verlander struck out six in his final career start against Pittsburgh on Saturday, finishing with a career total of 3,560. The 43-year-old Verlander announced in July that this would be his final year.

Arizona’s first-round pick in the 2006 draft, Scherzer debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2008. He has also pitched for Detroit, Washington, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets and Texas.

An eight-time All-Star, Scherzer won his first World Series title with the Nationals in 2019. He got another ring with the Rangers in 2023.

Scherzer started Game 7 of the World Series against the Dodgers last November, the 33rd postseason appearance of his career. He pitched 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball and left to a rousing ovation from Toronto fans, but the Blue Jays lost 5-4 in 11 innings.

In February, Scherzer signed a $3 million, one-year contract to return to Toronto. He has earned $2 million in performance bonuses, $1 million for pitching 65 innings and another $1 million for reaching 75 innings.

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