Corey Kluber anyone? Nats will attend his workout.
It's going to be a bit of a bidding war (he lives in a Boston suburb where his wife is from, near Pedro, and he's on the NYY radar), but, I trust this organization when it takes on pitchers with an injury history.
We are in tricky situation with Scherzer's expiring contract. Typically, the organization brings on the successor before a major player leaves, especially pitchers. Often, the successor doubles up with the end of control guy for a year or two. Kluber is about 2 years younger than Max so he fits the profile of a short term successor you'd try to sign for 2 years plus an option. Given his injury history and age, I don't think he'd get 3 years guaranteed without him giving up a lot of money.
From Kluber's perspective, I think he has 2 ways to go. He could take the 2 or 3 year deal at lower AAV and good total dollars, or he could just take the highest single season offer and say "I'll prove it this year and go back on the market next." I'll guess we'll put the multi-year on the table, maybe a Charlie Morton to Tampa kind of contract at slightly less, and other organizations will come in with single season contracts at high value.