Are the Yankees Still Planning to Pursue Max Scherzer?

They've stated multiple times this offseason they have to intention to do so, but are the Yankees still planning to pursue former Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer?

Fox Sports' JP Morosi says yes, using the team's 2008 treatment of first baseman Mark Teixeira as evidence. He believes the Yankees are just staying quiet to draw attention from themselves, but still might make a run at Scherzer later this winter.

"A search of newspaper archives [regarding Teixeira] for mid-December of that year revealed the Yankees were not comfortable paying Teixeira more than $160 million," Morosi pointed out. "[The Yankees] were merely 'on the outskirts of the pursuit' for him and had done all their major spending on other areas of the team."

Teixeira went on to sign with the Yankees for eight years and $180 million December 23, seemingly making an upcoming offer to Scherzer likely. However, the Yankees also spent big on guys like CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett that year, and the team hasn't done such a thing recently.

Not to mention, the Yankees are cautious of inking expensive arms right now, having seen the negative effects contracts like Sabathia's ultimately cause. 

"So if your question today is whether I believe the Yankees are pursuing Scherzer, the answer is an emphatic yes," Morosi wrote nonetheless. "The New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium could have been renamed the 'We Are Not Signing Max Scherzer Bowl,' and I wouldn't have been convinced."

Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi are all already guaranteed starting jobs in 2015, so it's tough to speculate where Scherzer would fit into the Yankees' rotation if a part of it. Chris Capuano is probably flexible, but then what will the club do when Ivan Nova comes back from Tommy John surgery?

Indeed, acquiring someone like Scherzer would bring up questions for the Yankees, but if they want to seriously contend for the World Series next season, they might just have no choice but to get it done.