To the Max: Scherzer, Mets finalize $130M, 3-year deal
NEW YORK » Mets owner Steve Cohen promised a max effort bringing a World Series back to New York.
Enter Max Scherzer, the newest ace in Queens.
The Mets and the threetime Cy Young Award winner finalized a $130 million, three-year deal Wednesday, a contract that shattered baseball’s record for highest average salary and forms a historically impressive 1-2 atop New York’s rotation with Jacob deGrom.
Scherzer said he was convinced during a video call with Cohen last month that the second-year owner was going to do whatever it took to build a winner in Flushing.
“You don’t hear that from owners too much these days,” Scherzer said Wednesday. “When you hear an owner wants to do what it takes to win, obviously that piqued my interest.”
Of course, Cohen put his wallet behind his words.
The 37-year-old Scherzer will earn $43.33 million per year, 20% higher than the previous mark, the $36 million Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is averaging in his $324 million, nine-year contract signed prior to the 2020 season. Scherzer has the right to opt out after the 2023 season and become a free agent again.
The eight-time All-Star was 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA last season with the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers, who acquired him on July 30. He didn’t lose a game after May 30 and was as dominant as ever in his first nine starts with LA, going 7-0 with an 0.78 ERA.
The right-hander ran out of steam following heavy usage in the postseason, though. He was unable to start Game 6 of the NL Championship Series against Atlanta as planned due to arm fatigue. The Dodgers lost that game to end the series.
Scherzer said he took about two weeks off before resuming throwing. He’s back on his normal offsesaon program, and he said the arm has turned a corner and felt better over the past two weeks.
“I needed to see where my arm was at, make sure there wasn’t any damage, and there wasn’t,” he said. “I just needed time. I overcooked my arm, I worked past my work capacity and what it was built for.
“From a long-term standpoint, structural standpoint, health standpoint, I’m ready to go.”
Scherzer struck out 236 and walked 36 in 179 1/3 innings, averaging 94.4 mph with his fastball in the final season of a $210 million, seven-year contract that included $105 million in deferred money payable from 2022-28.
This deal will raise his career earnings to at least $370 million.
“Max is one of the best pitchers of this or any generation,” Cohen said. “It’s a great day for the New York Mets. It’s an even better day for our fans.”
Cohen said new general manager Billy Eppler and the team’s analytics department calculated Scherzer’s value in the “vicinity” of where his contract ended up.
“I might have added a little more for brand building, but that’s how I got to the number,” he said.
Distinctive and fearsome with a blue eye on the right side and a brown one on the left — a condition known as Heterochromia Iridis — Scherzer is 190-97 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 major league seasons for Arizona (2008-09), Detroit (2010-14), Washington and the Dodgers.
Scherzer, who has thrown two no-hitters, lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, about an hour’s drive from the
Mets spring training complex in Port St. Lucie. With his young daughters starting school, that proximity played in New York’s favor.
Scherzer won his first Cy Young in 2013 with Detroit, then consecutive bestpitcher awards in 2016 and ‘17 with Washington. He finished third in this year’s NL balloting behind Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes and Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler.
DeGrom won the Cy Young Award in 2018 and ‘19, and Scherzer will be the seventh multi-time Cy Young winner to pitch for the Mets — also Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, Bret Saberhagen, Johan Santana and Tom Seaver. That’s two more than any other franchise, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Scherzer and deGrom will be the seventh pair of teammates to pitch together after winning multiple Cy Youngs. Scherzer did it with Clayton Kershaw last season, and the Mets had the previous two pairings with Martinez-Santana in 2008 and MartinezGlavine from 2005-07.
Scherzer has also been teammates with Cy Young winners David Price, Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Robbie Ray, Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson.