*Photo from Sports Illustrated*
One of the best pitchers in baseball is headed to the big apple. The New York Mets and RHP Max Scherzer have agreed to a 3 year, $130 million deal, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Mets have confirmed the contract.
In his deal, Scherzer gets a full no trade clause and an opt out after the second season. He also gets a $43.3 million annual salary in all 3 years, which shatters the record for highest annual salary for a pitcher, breaking Gerrit Cole's $36 million salary that the Mets crosstown rival New York Yankees gave him. His salary alone is higher than the opening day payrolls of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles if none of them made any more moves.
Mets owner Steve Cohen said "He is a Hall of Famer who knows how to win, and that’s a great quality to add to the clubhouse, too. Now we get to pair Max with one of the other great generational pitchers, Jacob deGrom. I told you last year I wanted to win, and I talked about sustained winning and winning championships, and I mean it. And I think the Mets today are closer to that than we were then. We are a better team today than we were two weeks ago."
Split between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers last season, Scherzer had a 15-4 record with a 2.46 ERA and 0.86 WHIP, striking out 236 batters while tossing 179 1/3 innings, making 30 starts and getting an all star game selection. In 4 games this postseason, Scherzer has allowed 4 earned runs and had an 0-1 record while throwing 16 2/3 innings.
In his career that spans 14 seasons, Scherzer has a 190-97 record, with a 1.08 WHIP and 3.16 ERA, throwing 2,536 2/3 innings in a total of 398 starts and 9 relief appearances, split between 4 teams. In 21 starts and 5 relief appearances in the playoffs, Scherzer has a 7-6 record with a 3.22 ERA while throwing 128 2/3 innings.
Cohen said it himself. Scherzer, by going to New York, forms a really deadly 1-2 punch at the top of the Mets rotation alongside multi Cy Young winner Jacob Degrom. Scherzer's deal, combined with the contracts given to Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and Starling Marte, total a bill of $254.5 million in guaranteed money handed out by the Mets this winter, which gives them the highest payroll in baseball by a large margin.
Scherzer said of pairing with Degrom that "I called Jake after our meeting just to get a sense of what New York was like, how he’s feeling and just get a state of where he’s at, and came away happy with it. The dream of pitching with him, we can do some great things together. I’ve been very fortunate throughout my whole career to have great starting pitchers beside me. I know how powerful that can be when you have guys to feed off of and watch great pitchers."
Despite being 37 years old and a recent injury history, Scherzer has not slowed down two steps while he's on the field. He has won more games and had a lower ERA while he's been in his 30's then he did in his 20's. His career innings total is 4th highest among active pitchers. Since the playoffs in 2019, he's had a strong 2.31 ERA, and his teams have won 8 of the 10 games he's pitched in.
Scherzer joins a now strengthened Mets rotation that includes Degrom, Carlos Carrasco, David Petersen, and Taijuan Walker, with Trevor Williams and Jordan Yamamoto in the mix for starts as well.
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