Hunt and Peck: St. Louisian Max Scherzer signs with not-Cardinals

of St. Louis.

Maxwell  "Max" Scherzer, formerly of Chesterfield, Missouri, has opted to not strike a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, the team of which region he was born and raised. The Parkway Central alum instead opted to take his talents out of the union to the cutthroat District of Columbia in Washington in what is clearly an act of rebellion and treachery. One might think that due to his relatively large price tag of seven years and over $180 million,  Mizzou's first ever MLB first-round pick wasn't seriously considered by the Cardinals, especially with the team's internal pitching options and history of avoiding giving long-term contracts to free agent pitchers, but that would be naïve. Unbeknownst to most, the 2013 Cy Young winner was actually born and raised in St. Louis. Cardinals players were even recruiting him or something. Not choosing to go the route that less than like 10% of Major League Baseball players go and therefore not signing with his hometown team is just a testament to his own pride and selfishness, obviously. Mad Max, indeed. *

- SBNation; Hardball Talk; Viva el Birdos

*satire, obviously

what else is going on in baseball...

• Major League Baseball should work on fixing how it pays minor-leaguers. - Hardball Times
• Ben Zobrist was traded to the A's and, along with his wife, took out a full-page ad to thank the Tampa Bay fans. - Hardball Talk

• Happy birthday, Jon Matlack! pic.twitter.com/DUvym9EPjP

  — New York Mets (@Mets) January 19, 2015

• Beyond the Box Score is looking at the best players in 2015. - Beyond the Box Score
• Stephen Strasburg could be traded. - SBNation
• These umpires have the highest ejection rate. - Beyond the Box Score
• Max Scherzer's contract after accounting for inflation. - Fangraphs
• What does Scherzer's deal mean for James Shields? - MLB
• MORE HIDEOUS BASEBALL CARDS! - Lookout Landing
• Scherzer has made the Nationals the best team in baseball... right now anyway. - SBNation
  Well, they are World Series favorites, anyway. - SBNation
• Check out this bio on these two Chicago Black Sox. - Sabr
• Fred Wilpon will run the MLB's finance committee despite being very... not good with money. - Deadspin
• Colby Rasmus is an Astro! - Fangraphs; Fangraphs
• Look how adorable Pedro Martinez is in this Expos gear! - Cut4
• #GiancarloArms - Cut4

what the cardinals are up to...

• #VIVAELGALLO  - 
  

  15 seconds of favorites with @tsunamy27 #CardsCaravan

  A video posted by St. Louis Cardinals (@cardinals) on Jan 18, 2015 at 12:24pm PST

• Bud Selig calls St. Louis the "best baseball city" or something like that. - Hardball Talk; Sports Illustrated
• Flood e-mailed me this cool article from Gammons about Lance Lynn. - Gammons Daily
• The Cardinals didn't sign Mad Max, but that is okay. - Cards Conclave
• A look at Michael Wacha and Adam Wainwrights offseason and rehab progress. - MLB
• The Cardinals are upgrading a youth baseball field in Taveras's home town in his memory. - STLToday

• 2015 Salaries: Wainwright + Lynn + Wacha + Lackey + Martinez = $28 million. Max Scherzer = $30 million. #stlcards

  — David Jones (@iPopEditor) January 19, 2015

• Jason Heyward was ranked fourth in MLB Network's Top Ten Right Fielders Right Now! and Matt Holliday was ranked seventh for left fielders! - MLB; MLB
• Jhonny Peralta ranked second to Troy Tulowitzki as MLB Network's Top Ten Shortstops Right Now! - MLB
• So precious: 
  

  Trevor Rosenthal jokes about dropping down like Neshek, going sidewinder for success in 2015 #cardinals #stlcards

  A photo posted by Derrick Goold (@dgoold) on Jan 19, 2015 at 10:29am PST

KNOW THINE ENEMY...

the nl central

• Yovani Gallardo is a Ranger. - Lone Star Ball
• The Wrigley Field bleachers will not be ready by Opening Day. - Bleed Cubbie Blue
• The Cubs acquire Dexter Fowler. - Beyond the Box Score
• Something about Johnny Cueto. - Fangraphs

viva el stuff...

• Lots of good fanposts this week. Check them out! 
  Ben Cerutti reviews his own post from last January looking at the most important statistic for each Cardinal (and Royal). - Viva el Birdos
  Ben also takes a look at Matt Holliday's Hall of Fame chances. - Viva el Birdos
  In addition to the above posts, Ben wrote about long-term options at right field. - Viva el Birdos
  WillGio discusses a possible trade for Stephen Strasburg. - Viva el Birdos
  johnjf125 makes a Hall of Fame case for Curt Flood. - Viva el Birdos
  matt.bush wants to get rid of the term "Sabermetrics" and just call it what it is - research. - Viva el Birdos
  bmarkham is glad the Cardinals did not go after a starter and here is why. - Viva el Birdos

other things...

• Blues goalie Brian Elliott will join teammates Kevin Shattenkirk and Vladi Tarasenko at the NHL All Star Game. - St. Louis Game Time
• The rosters are set for the NFL Pro-Bowl. - SBNation
• The Seahawks and Patriots will clash in this year's Super Bowl. Here are some things to bet on. - SBNation
• Oh hey look, the New England Patriots cheated, imagine that! - SBNation