Washington Nationals Update: Sign Pitcher Max Scherzer

Right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer has signed with the Washington Nationals, a high-ranking baseball official told USA TODAY Sports.

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman and MLB.com reporter Jesse Sanchez confirmed that the free agent and 2013 AL Cy Young winner agreed to a seven-year deal with the Nationals. Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported that the contract is worth more than $180 million.

Scherzer had turned down a six-year, $144 million extension offered by the Detroit Tigers last spring making him one of the best pitchers available on the free agent market. The signing has generated a lot of fuss regarding the Nationals' team, which is already packed with talented players.

Scherzer will join Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister in a starting rotation that is considered one of the best in the league. Zimmermann and Fister finished with a combined 30-11 record and a combined ERA of 2.55. Zimmermann went 14-5 posting an ERA of 2.66. He recorded 182 strikeouts over 199 2/3 innings. Zimmermann also made history by becoming the first Nationals pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Fister went 16-6 with a 2.85 ERA.

Both players have one year left on their contract. During this upcoming season, Zimmermann will make $16.5 million and Fister will make $11.4 million. The remaining pitchers in the 2014 rotation included Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark. Strasburg went 14-11 with a 3.14 ERA and Roark went 15-10 with a 2.85 ERA. Gonzalez, the only left-hander in the rotation, finished 10-10 with an ERA of 3.57.

During this past season, Scherzer posted a 3.15 ERA with a career-high 252 strikeouts over 220 1/3 innings. He finished 18-5 and was voted fifth in CY Young voting. In 2013, when he won the award, Scherzer went 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA.

In his five years with the Tigers, Scherzer went 82-35.