Former Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer is reportedly heading to the Nation's Capital after he agreed in principle to sign a seven-year deal with the Washington Nationals, a source close to situation reported on Sunday.
ESPN MLB insider Jayson Stark reported the deal between the Nationals and Scherzer, who is considered the biggest prize in this winter's free-agency.
Stark indicated the deal is expected to take place after the Nationals get rid of several contracts in order to make room for Scherzer's big contract.
According to sources, the Nationals were preparing to trade starter Jordan Zimmerman and shortstop Ian Desmond, but the team hasn't pulled off the trade yet as of Saturday.
The acquisition of Scherzer would be a colossal boost to the Nationals' starting rotation that already features former first overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg, Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, Tanner Roark and Doug Fister, who played with Scherzer during his stint with the Detroit Tigers.
The 30-year old Scherzer bagged the American League CY Young Award in 2013 after going 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA and is boasting a career win-loss slate of 91-50 with 3.58 ERA. Last season, he went 18-5 with a 3.15 ERA and made to his second straight All-Star game.
Scherzer entered this year's free-agency with the expectation of joining the likes of Justin Verlander of Detroit Tigers ($180 million), Felix Hernandez of Seattle Mariners ($175 million) and Clayton Kershaw of Los Angeles Dodgers ($215 million) as one of the highest-paid hurlers in baseball.
"All the prominent pitchers who've signed were not free-agent players," Scherzer's agent Scott Boras told ESPN. "If you put a pitcher like Kershaw into the free agent market, you're going to get a much different calibration and value. I'm not sure Kershaw's [contract] is relevant.''
Aside from the Nationals, big-market ball clubs like the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tigers also made a run at Scherzer.
