It hasn’t been a very active offseason for the Atlanta Braves thus far, but maybe that’s by design.
The Braves were surprisingly casual about allowing two-time All-Star starting pitcher Max Fried walk in free agency. They were certainly never going to match the $218 million price from the New York Yankees, but they looked resigned to the fate Fried would go well before then.
Without Fried, the Braves’ rotation is still formidable, but it’s missing a number-five starter. Adding another strong arm to Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Spencer Strider, and Spencer Schwellenbach may transform Atlanta’s pitching staff into one of the best in the game.
After successfully keeping Sale healthy and winning him his first career Cy Young Award in 2024, what if the Braves looked to a former three-time champion as their next reclamation project?
Sports Illustrated’s Will Laws and Nick Selbe projected on Thursday that the Braves will sign eight-time All-Star Max Scherzer, who is entering his 40th season and made only nine starts for the Texas Rangers last season.
“Scherzer finally started to show his age in a campaign riddled with injuries that featured his lowest strikeout rate (22.6%) since 2011 in the nine games he did manage to toe the rubber,” the paper’s authors stated.
“If he can regain good health, however, you can bet most hitters still wouldn’t relish facing down Mad Max.”
Scherzer struggled with back, shoulder, and hamstring injuries in 2024, which is not good news for a team hoping to get a full season out of the legendary righty. However, the Braves have enough depth in Triple-A to forgo a start for Scherzer on occasion in order to extend his career.
If any team is going to get one last strong season out of Scherzer, it could be the Braves, and after all his years of success in the National League East, none of Atlanta’s division rivals would be happy to face him.
