Cashman: “I don’t think Yankee fans will be looking at Max Scherzer” in 2015

During a recent television appearance, Brian Cashman reiterated what we’ve been hearing all offseason: the Yankees are unlikely to be major players for Max Scherzer. Cashman is the first team official to actually go on record saying the club is unlikely to pursue the free agent right-hander though. “I don’t think Yankee fans will be looking at Max Scherzer,” said the GM flatly, according to Brendan Kuty.

Of course, this could all be nothing more than posturing. If Cashman or anyone else involved with the Yankees comes out and says they’re planning to pursue Scherzer, the price will only go up. Scherzer is represented by Scott Boras, and Boras is no dummy. He’ll use anything he can as leverage against a team to get the most possible money, even a stupid little quote from the GM on a local television broadcast.

“The idea of them having a No. 1 pitcher certainly would add protection to where their current pitchers are, to take innings off them, give them a little bit an umbrella, somebody to be the No. 1,” said Boras at the Winter Meetings last week. “I can’t predict what the Yankees are going to do, but a guy like Max fits in with their starting rotation to develop a World Series-caliber set, similar to what they’ve had in the past.”

Boras is right. Scherzer would be a tremendous addition to the rotation. There’s zero doubt about that. But, as I said this morning, the team needs more than one starter and they have almost no money coming off the books next winter, so spending huge bucks on Scherzer would essentially take them out of the running for any of next year’s top free agents without a huge increase in payroll. I prefer signing two or three pitchers — inferior pitchers to Scherzer, to be sure — to smaller deals than handing out the one huge contract.

It’s hard to see a non-Yankees team that could be in the mix for Scherzer at this point, but it’s only a matter of time until Boras finds a desperate owner and gets a near record contract for the righty. The Tigers, Nationals, Dodgers, Rangers, Red Sox, and Scherzer’s hometown Cardinals could all be in the mix. The Yankees say they’re out on Scherzer, but I won’t believe it until he signs with another team.