Guardians predicted to give Hall of Famer one last chance to win in 2026

This offseason, the entire baseball world got to see Max Scherzer’s fire on the biggest stage. 

After being held off the Toronto Blue Jays’ roster in the American League Division Series, the team added him to their ALCS roster against the Mariners and gave him the ball for Game 4. 

And, after getting 14 outs, manager John Schneider came out to get Scherzer. But Scherzer didn’t want to leave the game. 

Schneider ended up electing to keep Scherzer in the game (likely because he wanted to live past the mound visit) and Scherzer made it stand up by striking out Randy Arozarena in what became a Blue Jays win. 

It was the kind of moment that’s become synonymous with the future Hall of Famer who is aptly nicknamed “Mad Max.”

Although Scherzer will be 42 next July, he’s said that he plans to pitch again in 2026, and he stands out as an obvious fit for the Guardians. 

Max Scherzer would provide the Guardians’ pitching staff with a big boost 

We got a little more reinforcement of that fact earlier this week when the team at MLB Trade Rumors unveiled their list of the predictions where the top 50 MLB free agents will sign this offseason. 

They had Scherzer (who MLBTR ranked as their No. 48 free agent) signing a one-year, $15 million contract, which is the same contract he signed with the Blue Jays last year. MLBTR writer Darragh McDonald predicted Scherzer would sign with the Guardians. 

While Scherzer only made 17 starts in the regular season, he was healthy for the postseason and ended up tossing 14 1/3 innings despite being held off the roster for the American League Division Series. 

He got a late start to the season thanks to the thumb discomfort that had been plaguing him since 2023, but he returned in June and was healthy the rest of the year. 

Although he’s obviously not the same kind of pitcher he was early in his career, his fastball averaged 93.6 miles per hour, and his slider and changeup were still solid pitches. 

Adding Scherzer to the Guardians' rotation would provide a couple of benefits. First off, it would confirm they were planning on competing in 2026 since there’s no way that he’d join a team that wasn’t serious about making it to the World Series. 

It would also give Guardians pitchers another great resource to rely on alongside Carl Willis. Toronto’s young pitchers raved about how much of an impact Scherzer had on the team’s pitching staff, so adding him would provide plenty of latent benefits along with one-the-field ones. 

Elsewhere on the list, the Guardians were predicted to sign starting pitcher Nick Martinez (who was predicted to get a two-year, $25 million contract) and outfielder Harrison Bader (two-year, $26 million contract). 

Martinez returned from a four-year stint in Japan in 2022 and has been a solid swingman option since. He recorded a 3.67 ERA across 524 2/3 innings), and spent 2025 with Terry Francona and the Cincinnati Reds.

The 35-year-old would serve as the Guardians’ seemingly obligatory veteran free agent pitching signing, though he has a better track record than Ben Lively or Jakob Junis had prior to coming to Cleveland. 

Bader is an obvious fit on the Guardians’ roster given that he can play center field and has a decent amount of pop. 

This year’s center field market is a bit underwhelming, so going after Bader should be a priority for a Guardians’ front office that’s looking to add to its center field picture this offseason.