Max Scherzer still wants to win.
That’s why the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer signed a deal to join the Blue Jays for another run at a World Series title in 2026, after coming so close to winning it all with Toronto last year.
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“This team can win,” Scherzer, a two-time World Series champion and three-time Cy Young Award winner, told reporters Tuesday. “I wanted to be a part of it.”
The Jays seem pleased to have Scherzer back in the mix, despite a crowded starting rotation. The veteran threw a bullpen session at the team’s spring training facilities in Dunedin, Fla., on Monday, and his manager said he was glad to see his return.
“Good catching up with gramps,” Jays manager John Schneider joked as he watched Scherzer at work in the bullpen.
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Jokes aside, the Blue Jays organization told CBC News that just 15 players — including Scherzer — have played for the team in regular season games at age 40 or older.
That’s a slim fraction of the 964 players to appear in a regular season game for the Blue Jays since the team’s debut in 1977.
Scherzer is also in rare company when it comes to baseball in general as one of only a few players still able to perform at a high level so far into their career.
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“It is a rarity for players to continue in their 40s,” said Barry Meister, a veteran agent who has represented multiple players who’ve done so, including infielder Craig Counsell (who turned 41 in his last MLB season in 2011) and Hall of Fame starting pitcher Randy Johnson (who pitched until he was 46).
The superstars that hold on
Starting pitcher Justin Verlander is another 40-something Hall-of-Famer-in-waiting, who is headed back to the mound this season.
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The 43-year-old signed a one-year deal to play for the Detroit Tigers, the team where he started his career.
Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers pitches during spring training in Lakeland, Fla., last month. The 43-year-old has signed a one-year deal to play with the Tigers, the team where he made his Major League Baseball debut back in 2006. (Mike Stewart/The Associated Press)
Like Scherzer, Verlander also has two World Series rings and three Cy Young Awards. And yet he’s in the mix of a competitive team with a chance to win.
Veteran broadcaster and podcast host Sid Seixeiro says baseball fans need to enjoy what they’re seeing this season from Scherzer and Verlander — as the show won’t go on forever.
“They truly are dinosaurs. They will not be walking the earth much longer in Major League Baseball (MLB),” said Seixiero, who believes baseball fans will see fewer older pitchers in the game in the future, as up-and-comers try to throw harder, putting their arms under increasing strain at younger ages.
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But MLB has long seen some of its stars, whether pitchers or position players, stay in the game after age 40 — including Johnson, a five-time Cy Young winner, hit machine Ichiro Suzuki and three-time National League MVP Albert Pujols.
Meister says players of this calibre have “an incredible will” to stay competitive and to remain in fighting shape.
“I would say that Father Time is undefeated, but there are some truly exceptional players who have found a way to delay the defeat,” he said.
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Closer to 50 than 40
Some MLB players have occasionally managed to find a place to play when they were closer to 50 than 40.
For instance, Phil Niekro, a knuckleball pitcher who made his MLB debut in 1964, was still on the mound in 1987, the year he turned 48.
Knuckleballer Phil Niekro, seen throwing for the New York Yankees, during a game against the Jays in October 1985, made his Major League Baseball debut in 1964 and played until his late 40s, wrapping up his career in 1987. (Gary Hershorn/Reuters)
Niekro pitched for three teams in 1987 — the Blue Jays among them. It was the last season in his Hall of Fame career. He died in 2020.
Another knuckleballer to pitch into his mid-40s was Tim Wakefield, who was also represented by Meister. The two-time World Series champ pitched through the 2011 season, the year he turned 45. Wakefield died in 2023.
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In 2012, 49-year-old Jamie Moyer, then pitching for the Colorado Rockies, became the oldest MLB player to win a major league game. During that season, which would be his last in the majors, he tried to land a spot with Toronto.
Pitchers and longevity
Like Scherzer, past Blue Jays who played multiple seasons after age 40 have been pitchers.
R.A. Dickey was one of them. Toronto made a trade for the knuckleballer after the 2012 season and signed him to a multi-year contract extension.
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Starting pitcher R.A. Dickey throws against the Houston Astros in August 2016. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Dickey went on to start 130 regular-season games for Toronto over the course of four seasons — the last two coming after his 40th birthday had occurred.
Relief pitcher Darren Oliver was 41 years old when he joined the Blue Jays on a one-year deal, ahead of the 2012 season.
And he was great: Oliver made 62 relief appearances across 56 and two-thirds innings of work, striking out 52 batters, recording a pair of saves and giving up just three home runs. His ERA was a career-best 2.06.
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Toronto brought him back to do it again in 2013, which was his last MLB season.
Toronto Blue Jays reliever Darren Oliver pitches in the ninth inning of a game against the Houston Astros in July 2013. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press)
Meister says pitchers seem “more likely” to remain in the game past age 40 than other players.
He said improved medical treatments have helped extend pitchers’ careers in the wake of injuries “that used to be career shortening to a greater extent.”
Some briefer stints
Other Blue Jays who were on the roster in this age range played for Toronto for either brief stints or single seasons.
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In 1979, outfielder Rico Carty played 132 games for Toronto in his final MLB season. He turned 40 that September. Carty died in 2024.
Dave Parker, who Meister also represented, was a late-season pickup for the Jays as they chased a playoff spot in 1991. It was the last stop for the 40-year-old in his MLB career. He died in 2025.
Dave Winfield played a single season with the Blue Jays in 1992 and it paid off big, as he became a World Series champion as a result. (USA Today Sports/Imagn Images/Reuters)
Dave Winfield joined the Jays on a one-year deal for the 1992 season, turning 41 in early October before the team went on to win the World Series.
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Jays legend Dave Stieb pursued a brief comeback in 1998. He made his last appearance in an MLB game in September that year, pitching for Toronto two months after his 41st birthday.
Lefty reliever Dan Plesac turned 40 before the start of the 2002 season, and expected to retire as a Blue Jay when it ended — but an unexpected mid-season trade to Philadelphia changed his plans.
He stuck with the Phillies though the 2003 season before calling it a career.
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Lefty reliever Dan Plesac at work for the Jays during an April 2002 game against the Anaheim Angels. (Harry How/Getty Images)
Canadian slugger Matt Stairs turned 40 ahead of the 2008 season, which saw him start out in Toronto and later moved to Philadelphia.
Eleven-time Gold Glove winner Omar Vizquel won a spot on the Jays’ roster in 2012, shortly before he turned 45. He played 60 games for Toronto that season.
Catcher Henry Blanco had a brief run with the Blue Jays, at age 41, in 2013. But he moved to the Seattle Mariners after Toronto designated him for assignment. Pitcher Ramón Ortiz turned 40 while he was part of the team’s bullpen that season.
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Shortstop Omar Vizquel waves to Jays fans after leaving the field for the last time in his MLB career after a game against the Minnesota Twins in October 2012. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins was 42 when he joined Toronto in a 2015 deal ahead of the playoffs. He retired after the season.
Reliever Jason Grilli turned 40 a few weeks after the Blue Jays’ 2016 playoff run ended. He hoped to finish his career with Toronto, but was sent to Texas in a mid-season transaction in 2017.