Don’t look for the St. Louis Cardinals to offer Max Scherzer a big-money deal, just because he’s from Chesterfield and went to the University of Missouri, Derrick Goold reports.

Scherzer’s ties to the city, his All-American turn at Mizzou and his boyhood fondness for the Cardinals do not compel the Cardinals to chase the righthander this offseason, Mozeliak said. The Cardinals recognize their place as a civic icon and St. Louis ambassador with strong, traditional roots in the area and a need to bring 3 million fans through the gate to maintain their payroll, but Mozeliak said it’s how much the players win, not where they grew up, that maintains the fan base.

“I don’t think there is any obligation to do that,” Mozeliak said. “Our first and foremost obligation is to win baseball games. How we get that shouldn’t matter where a player is from or grew up. That shouldn’t be what drives us to make decisions.”

Goold also calls Scherzer “the top pitcher available as a free agent this year.”