Well, folks, it’s time to take another look back. We want your take on another key moment in Tiger baseball history. Do you remember?
The year was 2014. March 23rd to be exact. This former Tiger turned down a 6-year contract extension that would have paid him $144 million dollars.
So, we have a simple request. Feel free to jump right in with your memories on the topic. But please remember, responses are limited to 4 sentences or less.
Heading into the 2014 season with the Tigers, Max Scherzer was the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. Only 5 pitchers in history had signed a deal worth more money than the Tigers offered Max. Describe your reaction and your opinion upon hearing that Max had turned down a contract that would have paid him $24M a year.
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It broke my heart, just like when Jack, Lance, and Gibby walked away from my team. I still root for him, but quietly.
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Max wouldn’t have stayed for $344 million. He wanted out and away from JV (and Ausmus). The Opening Day snub after he won the Cy Young was the straw that broke that camel’s back.
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I thought he was a traitor and was done with him. I’ve kind of forgave him now.
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I was disappointed when he left, but not too surprised. The Tiger offer was significant but in hindsight below market. Max bet on himself and won. I can’t criticize him for that, and have come to admire his guts in believing in himself. Another alumni I enjoy following.
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It was a sad day. I’d already come to grips that he wasn’t going to sign, but it was still sad, none the less. Never hated on him. I had always admired him, and still respect him and his decision..
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I was enormously impressed at his faith in himself, in how he rolled the dice and won big. He could have blown out his elbow and lost it all in that last season with the Tigers, but instead he went 18-5 and earned an even bigger payday. I don’t imagine that the extra money actually translated into a happier life, but it is a way of keeping score with your peers, and you don’t do anything at that level unless you are preternaturally competitive. More power to him.
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My reaction was the same as always…Pro sports has become a greed pit & I can’t even afford to attend a game.
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Done and Over! I don’t want to hear another word about money in baseball. I don’t care if they play for $1.00 or $1,000,000,000. If they play fine, if not just as fine!
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That was the domino that really changed the course of the franchise. I really wonder how things would have ended up if Max had resigned. HIndsight is always 20/20 but it makes the Cabrera and Zimmermann albatross contracts that much harder to swallow. I respected Max for betting on himself and getting what he wanted. Now he also has a World Series ring to go with it.
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Max s is an prime example why we shouldn’t make an idol of any sport figure who are after all fallible human persons with feet of clay
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I always felt Max left because of two people: Ausmus and Miggy. Ausmus because he was a lousy manager, and it didn’t take a baseball Einstein to see that. As far as Miggy; I felt Max wanted to be around guys who ran hard all the time, didn’t joke around with anyone who happened to walk by on the field, and at least acted like they took everything seriously. I would have left too if I were Max.
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Thank you HS! Been saying that for years. JV’s ego drove him sway. Atlanta braves 90’s star pitchers had a gentleman’s agreement over this sorta thing that JV refused to go along with.
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Max leaving is the reason now I’ll never root for another Tiger player to win any individual awards. The agents (snakes) seethes at these and try to parlay that into an obscene free agent pay day. But I’ll tell y’all what, Max got his ring the honest way. We cannot say that about JV and the Astros. So I’ll give props to Max on that. That’s it.
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Wasn’t happy about it, the Tigers could have structured the same sort of deal Washington did with deferred money and then to make the situation worse DD (at least I think it was DD) seemed to try to negotiate via the media & yes Aamas was an walking/talking disaster and why they didn’t get rid of him long before his contract was up remains a mystery to this day
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