Max Scherzer Sweepstakes: St. Louis native signs with Washington Nationals

St. Louis native Max Scherzer has agreed to a seven-year deal with the Washington Nationals much to the dismay of St. Louis Cardinals fans. Fox Sports senior baseball writer and MLB Network insider’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the deal is worth more than $180 million.

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The news broke late last night after reports had come out linking the pitcher to both Washington and a mystery team. The Cardinals officially took themselves out of the running when general manager John Mozeliak said that the team was not actively shopping for a starter.

As upset as some readers may be about the St. Louis choosing not to become a Cardinals pitcher, let’s not get too upset about this decision. Scherzer turned down $144 million to sign an extension with the Detroit Tigers. Who is to say that he would have turned down a similar offer from the Cardinals even if it had meant taking a hometown discount?

The Nationals already had one of the best pitching staffs in the country with Jordan Zimmermann, Ian Desmond, Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez. This signing only makes their pitching staff even better. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and remember that we’ve heard this time and time again yet the Nationals have not played in a National League Championship Series since they were still the Montreal Expos in 1981. They have made two postseason appearances in the last three years, losing to both the Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively.

How does this signing affect the Cardinals? It doesn’t and it shouldn’t. While another ace pitcher would certainly take the Cardinals staff to a different level, the Cardinals will still be competitive fielding a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn, John Lackey, and either Carlos Martinez or Marco Gonzales. Should things look very different in June or July, I trust that Mozeliak will make the right deal to help the team.