GETTING HURT

Nationals megadeal starter Max Scherzer got hurt batting in his last game.

According to the Sporting News, the right-hander said he was unable to throw Sunday morning because of the jammed thumb, which he suffered while batting in last Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Cardinals. 

“I’m not ready to rule it out completely, but I also have to be honest with myself,” Scherzer said. “Anytime you deal with an injury to your pitching hand, you literally have to be 100 percent to go back out there.”

Scherzer described the injury as a sprained ligament and said his thumb is still sore. The 30-year-old pitcher says he wants to play it safe.

“It’s my pitching hand,” Scherzer said. “Any type of discomfort’s going to alter the way I throw the ball. If I alter the way I throw the ball, I can really run the risk of major injury to my arm. So I really respect that. I really respect that I have to be at 100 percent. That’ll be my test: If I can throw all my pitches on flat ground at 100 percent.”

Scherzer said he dealt with a similar nagging injury while at the University of Missouri, returned too soon and almost suffered a major injury as a result.

“I’ve dealt with an injury before in college where I had a cut on my middle finger, and I went back out there and pitched in pain,” he said. “And two weeks later, I had biceps tendinitis and really almost kind of messed up my shoulder. I really respect the fact that you really have to be 100 percent to go back out there. And in this case, that’s how I’m going to treat it.”

This comes on the heels (pun unintended) that Adam Wainwright pooped his Achilles running out a pop fly ball. He is probably lost for the season.

Now, there have been cries that the National League immediately adopt the Designated Hitter rule to save multi-million dollar pitcher investments from getting hurt at the plate. But no where in the story says Scherzer advocated a change to the AL system. Probably a majority of starters in the NL enjoy picking up the lumber during their games.  A good hitting pitcher, like Travis Wood, is a real asset on a team with a short bench.

The DH does take out many strategy options that have been with the game since its inception. The DH rule does propagate the Earl Weaver idea of 3-run HRs is the way to win ball games instead of manufacturing runs with walks, steals, and hit-and-run plays.

Throughout the season, pitchers will get hurt. On and off the field of play. 

WORST DEAL OF THE OFF SEASON?

In worst off-season move, according to baseball executives.

Jason Stark of ESPN polled baseball management about the off-season.

Among the questions Stark asked execs was which free agent deal was the worst of this MLB offseason. It turns out some of the Nationals' rivals see little sense in their decision to sign Max Scherzer to a $210 million deal.
Here is how Stark explains it:

"The reason for that isn't actually confusing. We'd sum it up this way: Love the player, hate the contract. There's no better example of that than Scherzer. "It's ridiculous that they'll be paying him forever," one voter said. "But he's a great pitcher."

There are plenty of reasons why MLB executives may feel this way. Some may chalk it up to jealousy or envy or something intangible like that. Not every executive has the resources Nationals GM Mike Rizzo does to make such a move.

Or, one could take it as a reminder of the risk the Nationals are undertaking in committing such a monstrous price tag to Scherzer, who is a pitcher. Often times these deals do not work out - especially for starting pitchers - which essentially makes the Nationals as ones who are betting against history.

It is a valid point. Long term deals, especially with deferred compensation, can hand cuff a franchise down the road. (Aren't the Mets still paying Bobby Bonilla?) There will be a point when the television money will plateau, then recede. At that point, big spenders will be squeezed and dead money contracts will loom large.

But on the other hand, the Nationals are in "win now" mode. Whether the fan base really appreciates that the team is going all out for a championship in 2015 remains to be seen. D.C. is a fickle sports town. Fair weather fans are like the politics of the city.

The Nationals have a rare pitching staff (on paper) in place: three Aces in a row --- Strasburg, Zimmerman and Scherzer. One would expect no long losing streaks for the Nats this year.

A SURPRISE

MLBTR reports The Nationals have agreed to sign top starting pitcher Max Scherzer  to a seven-year deal, via CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.

The contract will carry through 2021, which will be Scherzer’s age-36 season for more than $180 million. This is less than the original $200 million demand for the former Tiger starter.

The Nationals were not thought to be a team with an interest in Scherzer. The team was trying to sign their young starter, Jordan Zimmerman, who now looks to become a free agent after this season.

Scherzer, 30, went 18-5, 3.15 ERA, 1.175 WHIP, 6.7 WAR in 2014, after a stellar 2013 campaign of 21-3, 2.90 ERA, 0.970 WHIP, 6.0 WAR. In his seven seasons, he has a career 24.0 WAR (3.43 average WAR/year).

The Nationals now have the strongest starting rotation in baseball. Stephen Strasburg, Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, Doug Fister and Scherzer are quite a powerhouse of #1 and #2 starters. The signing also bumps promising youngster Tanner Roark from the rotation.

Perhaps the move was signaled by last week's trade of Tyler Clippard (and his large salary for a relief pitcher).

There is some thoughts out of D.C. that the Nationals will now trade Zimmerman, who is in his walk year, for prospects.


UPDATE:

$210 million is the new figure for the contract  that has provisions that take advantage of District tax laws to save Scherzer money and keep the team’s present-day payments down via historic deferrals, according to Yahoo Sports.

Scherzer will get $15 million a year for the next 14 years, sources said, deferring half the money until after the contract expires. It is by far the largest sum ever deferred in a deal, not quite matching Bobby Bonilla’s 25-year deferral from the Mets in length but more than tripling it in value.

To make up for the loss with the deferrals – because of inflation and lost interest-earning opportunity, future money is worth less than present – Scherzer will receive $50 million in the form of a signing bonus spread over multiple years, the source said. The benefit to structuring the contract as such is that because his permanent residence is outside the District, Scherzer will not be subject to a state income tax on money earned in Washington, D.C.

The Home Rule Act, established in 1973, exempts nonresidents from paying state income taxes at the capital’s 8.5 percent rate. In practice, it means Scherzer would save more than $4.25 million of the $50 million bonus he’ll receive in Washington, D.C. – though just how much of that would be subject to tax elsewhere depends on the state in which he earns the money and where he resides. 

Additionally, none of the $105 million in deferred money would be subject to state taxes, potentially saving Scherzer another $8.92 million. All told, the lack of state income tax in D.C., when compared to playing in tax-heavy states, could save Scherzer eight figures. One source said the tax advantages could end up at more than $20 million, offsetting much of the money lost via deferrals.