Entering his age-40 season, right-hander Max Scherzer &#8212; who&#8217;ll turn 41 this July &#8212; isn&#8217;t disguising his ambitions for the 2025 campaign &#8212; he wants to win, badly. 
That&#8217;s to be expected for the already two-time World Series champion, who can see the light at the end of the tunnel as he embarks on his 18th major league season, his first with the Toronto Blue Jays. After signing a one-year, $15.5-million contract last week, the eight-time All-Star told reporters Friday via Zoom that he can envision winning with Canada&#8217;s lone MLB franchise.
He wouldn&#8217;t have come here if he believed otherwise, as <a href="https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/max-scherzer-discusses-signing-with-blue-jays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MLB.com&#8217;s Keegan Matheson relayed</a>.
Toronto is determined to return to a competitive state this season, and Scherzer took full notice of the front office&#8217;s efforts to bring that goal to fruition before deciding to come aboard. It&#8217;s not just about playing for the love of the sport. He also wants to win, too.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Max Scherzer says he was attracted to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> being in an “all-in position”
“I’m not just playing to play. I’m playing to win. I feel like Toronto offered that.”
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1887917987241324776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
The Blue Jays have made several roster additions this off-season. They&#8217;ve acquired Scherzer, Anthony Santander and Jeff Hoffman in free agency and made a splash in the trade market for defensive gem Andrés Giménez and Nick Sandlin to help bolster their bullpen &#8212; which they also did by re-signing Yimi García.
The addition of Scherzer, while risky, solidifies the back end of Toronto&#8217;s starting rotation, a veteran group that the three-time Cy Young Award winner is eager to join. He likely won&#8217;t have any difficulty meshing with the likes of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and José Berríos, while also providing another experienced presence for Bowden Francis &#8212; the staff&#8217;s fifth projected starter.
Scherzer only made nine starts last season, hindered by a thump injury last spring after recovering from off-season back surgery and later suffering shoulder and hamstring ailments. But the future Hall-of-Fame starter said he&#8217;s enjoyed a healthy winter and has been ramping up without any issues thus far.
While he&#8217;s in the early days of his throwing progression, everything remains on schedule regarding his training and bullpen sessions, admitting he feels &#8220;happy to be in my normal routine&#8221; and hopes it&#8217;ll translate into an injury-free camp over these next seven-plus weeks.
Now that the Blue Jays feature one of the oldest rotations in baseball, it&#8217;ll be crucial to develop a reliable layer of depth beyond their starting five, which is expected to include prospects Jake Bloss and Adam Macko and non-roster invitees Eric Lauer and Adam Kloffenstein at triple-A Buffalo, as <a href="https://x.com/ArdenZwelling/status/1887934644777030119" target="_blank" rel="noopener">general manager Ross Atkins said</a>.
That depth will also include Yariel Rodríguez, who&#8217;ll be stretched out as a starter this spring and compete for the final rotation spot alongside Francis. Whoever loses that competition will likely move to the bullpen to serve as a multi-inning reliever.
Toronto&#8217;s roster seems largely set, at least outside of a few finishing touches, like adding another impact hitter to the fold and a left-handed reliever. While management will continue to explore the remaining, albeit depleted free-agent market, any meaningful additions moving forward will probably come via trade.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins on whether his club is continuing to look for ways to add this offseason: <a href="https://t.co/9lrQFYOc5p">pic.twitter.com/9lrQFYOc5p</a>
— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArdenZwelling/status/1887933699620049282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
There&#8217;s still playing time available at DH even after the Santander signing, meaning the Blue Jays could target an offence-only player, although few are likely available in a trade. Alternatively, they could focus their efforts on a left fielder with offensive upside, preferably someone right-handed to balance out the organization&#8217;s outfield depth.
It&#8217;s all about finding the perfect fit &#8212; both for their lineup and the amount of organizational infield surplus that could help put the finishing touches on this roster.
As for how Scherzer fits with the Blue Jays, that&#8217;ll likely answer itself if he&#8217;s able to stay healthy and make between 20-25 starts this season, inserting one of baseball&#8217;s fiercest competitors into their arsenal of weapons for &#8217;25.

Entering his age-40 season, right-hander Max Scherzer -- who'll turn 41 this July -- isn't disguising his ambitions for the 2025 campaign -- he wants to win, badly. 

That's to be expected for the already two-time World Series champion, who can see the light at the end of the tunnel as he embarks on his 18th major league season, his first with the Toronto Blue Jays. After signing a one-year, $15.5-million contract last week, the eight-time All-Star told reporters Friday via Zoom that he can envision winning with Canada's lone MLB franchise.

He wouldn't have come here if he believed otherwise, as <a href="https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/max-scherzer-discusses-signing-with-blue-jays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MLB.com's Keegan Matheson relayed</a>.

Toronto is determined to return to a competitive state this season, and Scherzer took full notice of the front office's efforts to bring that goal to fruition before deciding to come aboard. It's not just about playing for the love of the sport. He also wants to win, too.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Max Scherzer says he was attracted to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> being in an “all-in position”
“I’m not just playing to play. I’m playing to win. I feel like Toronto offered that.”

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1887917987241324776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
The Blue Jays have made several roster additions this off-season. They've acquired Scherzer, Anthony Santander and Jeff Hoffman in free agency and made a splash in the trade market for defensive gem Andrés Giménez and Nick Sandlin to help bolster their bullpen -- which they also did by re-signing Yimi García.

The addition of Scherzer, while risky, solidifies the back end of Toronto's starting rotation, a veteran group that the three-time Cy Young Award winner is eager to join. He likely won't have any difficulty meshing with the likes of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and José Berríos, while also providing another experienced presence for Bowden Francis -- the staff's fifth projected starter.

Scherzer only made nine starts last season, hindered by a thump injury last spring after recovering from off-season back surgery and later suffering shoulder and hamstring ailments. But the future Hall-of-Fame starter said he's enjoyed a healthy winter and has been ramping up without any issues thus far.

While he's in the early days of his throwing progression, everything remains on schedule regarding his training and bullpen sessions, admitting he feels "happy to be in my normal routine" and hopes it'll translate into an injury-free camp over these next seven-plus weeks.

Now that the Blue Jays feature one of the oldest rotations in baseball, it'll be crucial to develop a reliable layer of depth beyond their starting five, which is expected to include prospects Jake Bloss and Adam Macko and non-roster invitees Eric Lauer and Adam Kloffenstein at triple-A Buffalo, as <a href="https://x.com/ArdenZwelling/status/1887934644777030119" target="_blank" rel="noopener">general manager Ross Atkins said</a>.

That depth will also include Yariel Rodríguez, who'll be stretched out as a starter this spring and compete for the final rotation spot alongside Francis. Whoever loses that competition will likely move to the bullpen to serve as a multi-inning reliever.

Toronto's roster seems largely set, at least outside of a few finishing touches, like adding another impact hitter to the fold and a left-handed reliever. While management will continue to explore the remaining, albeit depleted free-agent market, any meaningful additions moving forward will probably come via trade.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins on whether his club is continuing to look for ways to add this offseason: <a href="https://t.co/9lrQFYOc5p">pic.twitter.com/9lrQFYOc5p</a>
— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArdenZwelling/status/1887933699620049282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
There's still playing time available at DH even after the Santander signing, meaning the Blue Jays could target an offence-only player, although few are likely available in a trade. Alternatively, they could focus their efforts on a left fielder with offensive upside, preferably someone right-handed to balance out the organization's outfield depth.

It's all about finding the perfect fit -- both for their lineup and the amount of organizational infield surplus that could help put the finishing touches on this roster.

As for how Scherzer fits with the Blue Jays, that'll likely answer itself if he's able to stay healthy and make between 20-25 starts this season, inserting one of baseball's fiercest competitors into their arsenal of weapons for '25.

Blue Jays drew Max Scherzer’s attention with all-in position entering 2025 season: ‘I’m playing to win’

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