Fansided

Picking an All-Decade MLB team for the 2010s

By Joshua Sadlock

TORONTO, ON - JUNE 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bats in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 17, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JUNE 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bats in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 17, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 22: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals delivers the pitch against the Houston Astros during the third inning in Game One of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 22, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 22: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals delivers the pitch against the Houston Astros during the third inning in Game One of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 22, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Starting pitcher: Max Scherzer

MLB teams very rarely get full value out of their seven-year, $200-plus-million contracts for starting pitchers, but somehow Max Scherzer’s deal might be a bargain for the Nationals when it’s all said and done. Scherzer is now five years into his contract and continues to contend for Cy Youngs. The right-hander finished in the top five in the NL vote each of his first four seasons in D.C. and would have repeated the feat again this year if not for a minor injury that limited him to 27 starts.

Scherzer began the decade as a highly-regarded young starter who was still waiting for his breakout moment. The Tigers acquired him in a blockbuster trade where all they only gave up Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson, both of whom are somehow still playing in the league but have generated a fraction of Scherzer’s value over the past ten years. It took Scherzer a few seasons in Detroit to reach his full potential, but he has been nearly unstoppable since.

The big break for the right-hander came in 2013 when he went 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA and won his first Cy Young. There were detractors who wanted to ding Scherzer for not pitching incredibly deep into games, but he averaged nearly seven innings per start while winning his first Cy Young. It was somehow seen as a black mark against the ace that he had thrown only one complete game in his seven seasons prior to free agency.

Maybe, just maybe, not going to the well to pile up complete games in his twenties was actually a good thing for Scherzer. Since signing with Washington, he is 79-39 with a 2.74 ERA and has thrown nine complete games and four shutouts, while leading the league in innings pitched twice. He’s given the Nationals two Cy Young seasons, two no-hitters, a 20-strikeout game and now a World Series. His contract may go down as the best $210 million ever spent on a pitcher.

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