As of Thursday morning, the Washington Nationals enter Grapefruit League action against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 4-1-1 record so far, although their lone loss was an abysmal one. It is hard to get overly excited for this team heading into 2026 given how slow the offseason was, but there is still hope for the young players in the organization.
One of the desires of Nationals fans everywhere was that the team would bring in their Jayson Werth-esque signing this offseason to help usher in a new era of winning, but that did not happen. Perhaps it will come next year, but there was still a lot of hope that the organization would reunite with a franchise legend.
If the cover of the article did not spoil it, I am of course referring to righty Max Scherzer, a man who needs no introduction to Nationals fans. There had been some speculation among the fanbase that the Nationals could have been looking into a reunion with Scherzer, but we now know that it will not be taking place.
It was reported last night by Jon Heyman that Scherzer had elected to re-sign with the Toronto Blue Jays for the 2026 season, giving him another opportunity to run it back with the team that lost an all-time classic World Series in 7 games to the Los Angeles Dodgers last October. Given that Scherzer is the ultimate competitor, this should come as no surprise, but still, it is a bit disheartening.
The Nationals chose to go with a pair of uninspiring options in Foster Griffin and Miles Mikolas to fill out their rotation, and you can bet Nationals fans everywhere would have much rather seen Scherzer. Even kicking the tires on him to see if he wanted to be a closer in what could be his final season would have helped the fanbase get some closure with their franchise legend, but the fans now will not get that chance.
Of course, we have no idea if the Nationals had ever even explored bringing in Scherzer, but it had long been a pipe dream for fans since he was traded away along with Trea Turner in a now infamous deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers that has aged terribly for the Nationals. While Scherzer likely still goes into Cooperstown with a Curly W on his plaque, not being able to say goodbye to him for a potential final season feels like a major missed opportunity for this new front office.
How do you think Max Scherzer will perform this season? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.