Updated Report: July 29, 20:30
It turns out Ken Rosenthal jumped the gun on his report that the Padres were close to acquiring Max Scherzer from the Nationals.
In quite the turn of events, Jeff Passan of ESPN is now reporting that the Dodgers are working on a deal that would net them Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner from the Nationals.
Original Report: July 29, 16:33
The San Diego Padres are working on a deal for Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer, according to The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal. It’d be a move that once again shifts the landscape of the National League West and playoff outlook.
There’s no word on the players or prospects who would head back to Washington.
Padres’ general manager AJ Preller is an absolute mad man.
After trading for Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Mike Clevinger (who is injured right now) and Blake Snell over the last 12 months, Preller is on the verge of putting the icing on the Padres’ cake of a rotation by acquiring Scherzer, who 8-4 with a 2.76 ERA in his age-37 season.
He also traded for All-Star infielder Adam Frazier this past weekend to shore up their lineup. Preller’s done all this while keeping top prospects MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams (pre-terms of the Scherzer deal).
Scherzer pitched six innings of one-run ball on Thursday just hours before the trade report surfaced. He missed his last start with triceps soreness but said it was just an issue that would be solved with a couple more days’ rest. He then tossed 88 pitches in a win 3-1.
The Mets had interest in Scherzer, but there were reports that the righty ace wouldn’t waive his no-trade clause for New York. Zack Scott all but confirmed that assumption in an interview Wednesday when he said there was “no chance” the Mets would get Scherzer–not out of interest on their end but Scherzer’s.
