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Reports say Max Scherzer, Nationals agree to 7-year contract

File- This July 30, 2014, file photo shows Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer throwing during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Detroit. Various reports say Scherzer, the 2013 AL Cy Young Award winner, has agreed to a seven-year contract with the Washington Nationals. Neither the Nationals nor Scherzer's agent immediately responded to requests for comment Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) File- This July 30, 2014, file photo shows Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer throwing during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Detroit. Various reports say Scherzer, the 2013 AL Cy Young Award winner, has agreed to a seven-year contract with the Washington Nationals. Neither the Nationals nor Scherzer's agent immediately responded to requests for comment Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

By Associated Press January 19, 2015 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Various reports say 2013 AL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer has agreed to a seven-year contract with the Washington Nationals.

Neither the Nationals nor Scherzer’s agent immediately responded to requests for comment Sunday night.

Scherzer, a 30-year-old right-hander, is a free agent after spending the past five seasons with the Detroit Tigers. He turned down an offer from Detroit last March that would have paid him $144 million from 2015-20.

He was 18-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 2014, a year after going 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA and being voted the best pitcher in the American League.

The NL East champion Nationals’ starting rotation already includes Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister – Scherzer’s former teammate with the Tigers – Gio Gonzalez, and Tanner Roark.