OverDrive - Matheson on Scherzer landing with the Blue Jays, his role in the rotation and the team's additions to the roster

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Blue Jays, Max Scherzer landing with the team and bolstering the starting rotation, Scherzer's the team's outlook for the start of the season and more.

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Let's go. New year, new you. New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. Here's Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Keegan, how do you see this signing from a Blue J perspective? Max Scherzer, one year 15.5 million.

I think it makes a lot of sense, guys, and I also agree. It's another thing we're talking about like it's not on there that is uh... changing the direction of the conversation leading for a little bit around the blue jays they've had this money to spend through the office even they've got a lot of cash and this for one year fifteen and a half million to take a shot on anyone why not mac shirter

and why not one of the great pitchers of this generation? Now he's 40, he's turning 41 in July. You're not looking for a 2.7 ERA dominant Max Scherzer, but if he gives you a 3.9 and makes most of his starts, that's pretty damn good. And now you bump Yariolario Rodriguez down you fill the bullpen a little bit better it has a bit of a domino effect there now Max Scherzer it's all about age it's all about staying healthy but if there's one thing

the Blue Jays have done well and at times this has been the one thing we can point to but they've kept veteran starters healthy so lines up it's fascinating and guys i keep coming back to just like some time there this is a move that if you're going to do this just keep going you're going to find mac surezer pushy m at this point so what what is that portion is it is it simply a long so is it more than that

a lot of though i think it most obvious option at this point. I continue to think that the Mets are still very possible, maybe likely in that case. When you see it going back and forth like this with a lot of the, the word reporting needs to be used extremely loosely here, maybe put in Comic Sans font, but when you see this going back and forth with Alonzo, a lot of the times it's a player waiting for the team

he wants to bring the money out. But the Blue Jays still have the opportunity to hit the trade market as well. They've still got this real big group of young infielders that would be attractive elsewhere. But now that the Jays have done this, it feels like that lineup edition is the one thing left. And that can be done a lot of ways. I still think the trade market's a big opportunity. But this for me guys takes care of a couple of things. If you do slide Yario Rodriguez to the bullpen, you might be a little more comfortable with that pen where it is right now. If you're the blue Jays and obviously this rotation just got better if he can stay healthy.

This feels like we're getting pretty far down from option A, option B, option C. Where would you say it is as you work through being denied or granted access to signing a player? Yeah, this tends to be when the Js like to do their business too. They're a big January team and sometimes that's a team trying to look smart and wait out the market. Sometimes you get burned by that. Mack Schurzer in terms of who they wanted going into this off season was not one, two or three as a starting pitcher.

They would have loved to land Corbin Burns. They were big in on Burns, but he wanted to go to Arizona. Some of the other top end starters, they certainly chased down. Now at this point, I think what's most attractive about this guys is that you get them for one year I mean we might be talking in late July about hey the Blue Jays are out of this But they can trade matchers or and get something back. Maybe that's the way that all of this goes

But if you're going to take This contract on anyone and I'm trying to think of other veterans on the market like Jose Quintana, Andrew Heaney, these types. I do think Scherzer makes some sense given the track record. Now his stuff has not gotten better as he's reached 40 but it hasn't gone off a cliff either and man fascinated to cover a player like Scherzer too. Intense does not even begin to describe it as anyone who's watched him on TV knows but it's one of those players you never really thought would be in a blue jays uniform it's going to be strange to see but you never know where an offseason will take you especially in

January. Keegan in spring training before the first pitch is thrown and the question is asked to Ross what do you believe the expectation for this team is what do you expect to hear back i think you'll say there's a lot of exciting options and alternatives and and many words like that but the optimism will be spewing out of the blue jays again because it always is going to be and i i never think that's a an accurate barometer maybe is the the best way to say it but the blue

and it was what was it two years ago it was world series aspirations what would it be now with these additions and where the team stands i don't think they're a team that shooting at that final wild card spot i don't think it raised the bar enough to be chasing the division whatsoever but i think that this is still a team that's going to be if they can make a run Going at one of those final wild card spots and we've seen how that works out guys all of those o2 exits They've had in 2020 22 and 23

The wild card it's it's great to participate and get in but you've got to do something with it eventually and God guys, we've been saying this for five six years It's it's great to participate and get in but you've got to do something with it eventually and god guys We've been saying this for five six years eventually You've got to take a run at the division get yourself into the ALDS with a five game series where you can settle in and play Some baseball but they've been getting bounced from that wild-card spot. So the the sights still need to be higher I still think one more move turns this into a real good offseason I still think one more move turns this into a real good offseason But I'm also not so sitting here thinking that they're suddenly projected to win 95 games. Not at all

There are still issues with the team. They still need to round out that lineup. Absolutely and There'll be a ton of optimism. There always is my god The Chicago White Sox will be saying that they're optimistic on February 14th But yeah, they're a little closer than they were a day ago. We'll say that for now. With Keegan Matheson and MOB.com breaking news this hour, Max Scherzer is signing a one-year deal with the Blue Jays, 15.5 million. So that sets up, presuming no more deals or anything and everyone shows up healthy and breaks camp, healthy and everyone has a good spring training.

Gozman, Bassett, Barrios, Francis, Scherzer, how does that starting rotation match up compared to the others in the AL East? I think it's a damn good one, especially if you can get Bowden Francis looking anything like he did a year ago. I think that Kevin Gozman will be better than he was last year if he gets a normal spring because he was forced to catch up last year. Guys, if I have learned anything, I haven't learned much over these last 10 years covering the team, but I've learned one thing is that if you get behind in spring training, you're

screwed. If you're trying to catch up all year, you're not going to. And that's what Gosman had to do early in the season. I think he's going to be better. Chris Bassett will be himself, Jose Barrios will be himself. They always are. But if you get something out of Scherzer, and if you get a little bit of upside out of Chris Bassett, that's a real good rotation.

Not the best in baseball, won't get carried away, but that's a very good rotation. And how you line it up is interesting as well. I'll probably just intentionally annoy John Schneider on day one on February 13th asking who the opening day starter is but it's you can roll out any of those four, those veteran four and you're not going to find many quartets in baseball with that much experience. These guys have been around forever. Yeah, it's interesting like with Scherzer now, because when the news broke, because

he'd been linked to the J's for weeks now, but we're so immune to that because of all the linking of different players and different free agents over the last few years, I don't think we've put a lot into it and haven't really discussed it. So we're really getting into it for the first time now that he's officially signed. I said right off the bat, Keegan, earlier this hour, this has got me hook, line, and sinker as a customer and a fan because I want to see him pitch for the Blue Jays. I'm curious, opening day is a big one, the home opener is a big one, and the marketing component that comes with Scherzer, how do you think they link all of that together?

Ownership, management, marketing, they're going to want to capitalize on this guy because Or how do you think they link all of that together where you know ownership management marketing? They're gonna want to capitalize on this guy because of who he is But Schneider's got to deal with you know Gossman who's been the kind of alpha dog in the clubhouse for a while Barrios is the guy who signed long-term He's got the ball opening day in the past Like how do they make sure is are into this in terms of baseball dynamics? But also the marketing component considering he's an all-time great, he's going to Cooperstown, and it'll probably

be a 100% vote when he goes. Oh yeah, marketing dream, and guys, I try to think of, just taking a step back, my brain is too far inside baseball all the time, but the average average fan one of our buddies who watches a couple of games a week your mom your uncle they know who Max Scherzer is and they know he's damn good they're not going to care too much about his back surgery a year ago that he's sporty how his fastballs moving yada yada they're not going to care much about that yet they're going to hear Max Scherzer is on the Blue Jays and think holy crap that's pretty good and I don't know if all of the bobbleheads are in yet I don't know if they can get the mismatching contact lenses for one eye in as a giveaway or

what they can do but I know they'll be all over this guys and in the clubhouse I think that Gosman Barrios Bassett I think those guys are the right ones to handle it at times things like this can be a distraction you know i think that last year when joey vato was trying to get up to the big leagues every time i'm asking john schnider where is he there's no updated it seemed a bit odd for a bit of a stretch there but i think sure there should be a guy who is contributing and not making

uh... you're not drawing attention any anywhere else I really do think Gosman, Bassett, I would love to witness a conversation between Chris Bassett and Max Schurz are about pitching. That would be incredible. But I think they're the right guys to take it in and man, probably sells a few tickets. I don't know how that's going right now, but the average fan, I tell you what,

is gonna be excited about this. Yeah, well and I guess we'll get you out of here on a day one, hour one prediction here. Or I guess the bar, like the bottom of the barrel in terms of the amount of innings, amount of starts that you feel would make this a valuable play. In other words, they're paying him 15.5, they want to compete, they've signed him because they need him to help them compete because they just don't have enough in the system if all these guys get injured. 20 starts 25 starts 130 innings 140 like where does your mind go first in terms of mandatory amount

of innings and starts for Max Scherzer to make this worth it. Yeah I look back to his 2023 guys that's when he got traded from the Mets to the Rangers. Now that year had about 150 innings 27 starts in a 3.77 ERA. That's pretty good. So maybe bump the bar from there down an inch. If you're looking at 140, 24, 25 starts an ERA that's just squeezing under that four mark. That's still a good starting pitcher and a guy that's going to not get blown up in the first inning. He's going to give you consistent innings. So I think really just looking at 20, 23 and maybe a lower the bar an inch but 25 starts getting

close to 150 innings. He doesn't need to be doing what he did back in 16, 17, 18. That's not going to happen. That's fine. He's 40. But 25 starts in an ERA that maybe slips under four. I think you are real, real happy at that point. And by the end of the season, the Blue Jays will have more depth around if injuries prop up too. They've got Jake Bloss, Ricky Tiedemann, Alec Minoa could come back and Yario Rodriguez can celebrate back in as well that the jay's rotation depth just haven't been good enough for a few years now it is in case something happens and sure there's still a guy who maybe for one more year can really do something up there absolutely all right keegan appreciate you doing this man

especially on short notice thank you for this you got it fellas talk soon keegan matheson of mlb.com