Max Scherzer says he'll take his time deciding whether he pitches again next season.

He addressed his future with the media directly, offering real insight into what was going through his mind during his recent starts.

Scherzer said he specifically wanted to pitch in Toronto with his family in attendance one last time, just in case it turned out to be his final outing.

That's a meaningful detail. It suggests this stretch of starts carried real emotional weight for him beyond the usual competitive stakes of a wild-card race.

Even so, he isn't ready to make a firm call on retirement. He plans to take his time working through the decision rather than announcing anything definitive right now.

Why this uncertainty fits his whole late-season arc

That patience tracks with how Scherzer has approached this entire stretch. He's spoken before about wanting to keep pitching until his body genuinely won't let him anymore, without setting a hard deadline on when that moment arrives.

This season gave him real reasons to believe there's still something left, including his dominant outing against the Mariners and his push up the all-time strikeout leaderboard chasing Justin Verlander.

At 42, closing in on 3,543 career strikeouts and a resume that includes two World Series titles and three Cy Young awards, Scherzer has nothing left to prove to anyone.

Wanting his family in the building for a potential final start, regardless of what he ultimately decides, speaks to a player who understands exactly how significant this moment could be.

Toronto's own offseason is shaping up to be a busy one, with George Springer and Shane Bieber among the other notable names facing their own uncertain futures.

Whether Scherzer decides to pitch again, in Toronto or elsewhere, or officially calls it a career, remains genuinely open. For now, he's simply not ready to close that door just yet.