Scott Boras: 'Max (Scherzer) is kind of a Peyton Manning No. 1 type of guy'
Click here to access our MLB Tracker, which includes every offseason rumor, trade and signing.
Jon Lester is off the free-agent board, and now it's time for super agent Scott Boras to assume control of the winter meetings and begin negotiating a contract for one of his top clients - Max Scherzer.
"Max is kind of a Peyton Manning No. 1 type of guy," Boras said while being swarmed by media Wednesday at the winter meetings. "He's always on the information train to improve himself and evaluate the market."
Scherzer is expected to command a far greater deal than Lester's six-year, $155-million contract with the Chicago Cubs. There's even speculation it may cost suitors over $200 million to land the right-hander's services. The 30-year-old rejected a seven-year, $160-million offer from the Detroit Tigers last year in anticipation of fetching a far greater return on the open market this winter. Szherzer could even fetch more than Clayton Kershaw's $215-million extension.
"These type of contracts are ownership decisions," Boras added. "They affect whether or not a team is a championship-caliber team. They affect attendance and media rights values and the values of franchises. They're market-impactful decisions."
Boras confirmed to the media he's already met with multiple ownership figures on behalf of Scherzer, but history suggests Boras won't rush into negotiating a deal, and the process could drag on well into 2015.
Scherzer boasts a career 91-50 record with a 3.58 ERA over seven seasons and was the 2013 Cy Young Award winner.