Max Scherzer

The Washington Nationals' erratic first half of the season has been a learning experience for the fans as they come to grips with a team that may not, after all, be the first-ever 162-game winner, and for the clubhouse staff as they conduct detergent-related science experiments to get chocolate sauce out of jersey fabric. 

That asking price isn’t looking so outrageous right now.

Max Scherzer has been one of the most durable pitchers in baseball since 2009, but the Washington Nationals ace is dealing with a sprained right thumb.     

Continue for updates.

The offseason has been a blur, one blockbuster move after another changing the landscape as we knew it just hours before.

Brash and fearless front offices shuttling out superstars, bringing in others and changing the complexion of divisions has been the norm since before Thanksgiving. In what has become one of the most active and maybe surprising fall-winter seasons in recent memory, the balance of power has shifted in every division in both leagues over the course of three-and-a-half months.

For a Major League Baseball superstar, the pressure is inherited with the title.

That much is a given. Whether it is a player’s past production or simply his price tag, the stars of the game are looked upon to be among the best. This becomes especially true when that player’s team is expected to win. There is little pressure on a player like Joe Mauer, whose season is not expected to dictate how his team fares.

The signing of free agent Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million contract improved the Washington Nationals’ starting rotation from arguably the best to undoubtedly the best in baseball.

Ever since Max Scherzer turned down a $144 million offer from the Detroit Tigers last March, speculation has been rampant about which team he would sign with and how much his contract would be worth.  Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reported in early December that Scherzer’s

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