DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Max Scherzer threw a bullpen session in spring training Monday for the Toronto Blue Jays, even before the reigning American League champions formally announced his return.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Scherzer will throw again Wednesday, and said the 41-year-old right-hander could pitch in an exhibition game next weekend. The manager said Scherzer had been throwing to free-agent hitters on his own.
“Good catching up with gramps,” Schneider told reporters. “Nice to have him back.”
Scherzer's 8-year-old daughter wrote a letter to the team in December in hopes of him returning to the Blue Jays.
He agreed last week to a $3 million contract for 2026 that includes the opportunity to earn another $10 million in performance bonuses, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity then because the deal was subject to a successful physical.
Schneider watched the bullpen session with pitching coach Pete Walker, and said the three-time Cy Young Award winner looked good.
Scherzer went 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts and 85 innings for the Blue Jays last season, his 18th in the major leagues. Then he made three starts in the postseason, beating Seattle 8-2 in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series before getting the ball twice in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball in Game 7 before Toronto lost 5-4 in 11 innings.
He was a free agent against this offseason after signing a $15.5 million, one-year contract with the Blue Jays last year. He plans to be back in a seemingly deep rotation expected to feature some combination of Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, José Berríos and Eric Lauer.
Scherzer has won two World Series titles, with Washington in 2019 and Texas in 2023. The eight-time All-Star is 221-117 with a 3.22 ERA for the Diamondbacks, Tigers, Nationals, Dodgers, Mets, Rangers and Blue Jays.
He ranks 11th on the career list with 3,489 strikeouts — 20 behind Hall of Famer Walter Johnson. The only active pitcher with more is Justin Verlander at eighth with 3,553.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
FILE - Toronto Blue Jays' Max Scherzer (31) looks on before batting practice Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Toronto, a day ahead of Game 6 in baseball's American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who repeatedly drove his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in New York City earlier this year pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges of intentionally damaging religious property.
Dan Sohail, 36, was previously arrested on hate crime charges following the Jan. 28 incident, which damaged an entrance to the revered Jewish site but did not cause any injuries. The new federal charges come on top of multiple state-level hate crime charges, including attempted assault.
He entered his federal not guilty plea Monday through lawyer Mia Eisner-Grynberg, who said Sohail's actions had not been “intentional in the manner described by the government.”
He is in the process of converting to Judaism and had visited the Chabad Lubavitch site before, she said. Sohail, who wore a yarmulke in court, didn't speak except for answering standard yes-or-no questions about aspects of the proceeding.
In a court complaint, federal authorities said Sohail deliberately rammed the side of the building with his car five consecutive times after clearing away stanchions and urging people to move out of the way. He then told police he had lost control of the vehicle and pressed on the gas with his heavy boots, according to the complaint.
Several people close to him — including family members and Chabad rabbis — have said Sohail did not seem to harbor any hatred toward Jews but suffered from mental health issues. Sohail's attorney said he was living with his mother in New Jersey, while working two jobs as a generator technician and a fertilizer technician.
Sohail’s father told The Daily News that his son suffered from “mental problems” but had “a very good friendship, relationship" with the Jewish community. Weeks before the incident, he had attended a social gathering at the Chabad headquarters, where he was seen on video dancing with Orthodox men, according to police.
At Sohail’s arraignment on Monday, prosecutor Eric Silverberg acknowledged “very significant mental health concerns” about the man but said that his behavior was dangerous and that he should be detained.
He will be held in a Brooklyn federal jail ahead of a bail hearing Wednesday. Sohail's attorney said he would rather have returned to Rikers Island, the city jail where he's been held since the crash, as he was eager to be settled back in for the start of Jewish holiday Purim at sunset Monday.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison if the damage is found to have exceeded $5,000.
A spokesperson for Chabad declined to comment on the federal charges and the cost of damages to the door.
A message seeking comment on the future of the state case was sent to the Brooklyn district attorney's office. Sohail has pleaded not guilty to the state charges.
The crash occurred on the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson becoming the leader of the Lubavitch movement and prompted immediate concern in the city. Schneerson died in 1994 but remains a revered figure globally.
There has been a near-constant police presence around the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters for years.
The site was at the epicenter of the Crown Heights riots in 1991, when Black residents of the neighborhood attacked Jews after a child was killed by a car traveling in Schneerson’s motorcade. In 2014, a disturbed man entered the synagogue and stabbed a rabbinical student, wounding him, before being shot dead by police.
Associated Press writer Jake Offenhartz contributed.
FILE - A person watches the scene where a car slammed into the entrance of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters, Jan. 29, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, file)
