Scherzer, other latest $100M contracts not on All-Star teams
Max Scherzer was back on the mound, striking out 11 in six scoreless innings of two-hit ball.
His impressive return came after he missed nearly seven weeks because of an oblique injury, and that lengthy absence is why the three-time Cy Young Award winner won’t be an All-Star in his first season with the New York Mets. The NL starter in last year’s game, Scherzer was 5-1 with a 2.26 ERA through his comeback last Tuesday night in Cincinnati, only his ninth start this year.
Scherzer is making a season-record $43.3 million in the first of his $130 million, three-year deal. But he isn’t the only player who got a big new contract before the 2022 season and wasn’t on the All-Star rosters released Sunday.
None of the 14 other players who signed deals worth at least $100 million, whether in free agency or to stay with their teams, is set to play July 19 at Dodger Stadium, either. That includes three who, like Scherzer, were All-Star starters last year with their old teams: Freddie Freeman, Nick Castellanos and Marcus Semien.
Among those missing from the All-Star rosters:
— Corey Seager ($325 million, 10 years). The Texas Rangers shortstop and 2020 World Series MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers has four homers his last five games and is hitting .245 with 19 homers and 45 RBIs.
— Wander Franco ($182 million, 11 years with club option for 12th). The 21-year-old shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays is hitting .260 in 58 games. He just went on the injured list with a wrist injury and missed much of June with a right quadriceps strain.
— Kris Bryant ($182 million, 7 years). The left fielder/DH has been limited to 29 games in his debut with the Colorado Rockies after two IL stints because of lower back issues.
— Semien ($175 million, 7 years). After not hitting his first homer until May 28, in his 44th game with Texas, he has 10 homers his last 33 games. His 45 homers last season with Toronto set an MLB record for a second baseman.
— Matt Olson ($168 million, 8 years). Traded from Oakland in the spring to replace the departed Freeman at first base, Olson immediately signed a long-term deal with Atlanta and is hitting .254 with 13 homers and 49 RBIs.
— Freeman ($162 million, 6 years). A World Series champion with the Braves last season, he is hitting .304 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs in Los Angeles, but four of his Dodgers teammates are on the NL All-Star squad.
The others are Detroit shortstop Javier Báez, Boston second baseman Trevor Story, Toronto right-handers José Berríos and Kevin Gausman, Seattle lefty and 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, and shortstop Carlos Correa and center fielder Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.
Yordan Álvarez, the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year, signed a $115 million, sixyear contract last month. The Houston Astros DH has 26 homers and 60 RBIs but was put on the IL with a hand injury Sunday, the same day he was named to his first All-Star team.