How do you like the Mets now?
Apparently all the New York Mets needed was a general manager in place to start wreaking havoc on baseball’s free agency.
On Black Friday, the Mets landed three nice pieces to bolster their lineup in Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha. Now, Billy Eppler has made the biggest splash of the winter (so far).
According to reports, the Mets are signing three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million deal.
The 37-year-old Max Scherzer would easily be the oldest player in MLB history to sign a $100M contract.
It's currently 33-year-old Kevin Brown when he signed the first $100M deal in MLB history back in 1998. https://t.co/0vNozIYwU1 pic.twitter.com/OUpJc6q8yC
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 29, 2021
This deal would give the Mets’ the two highest fWAR producing pitchers in the game since 2018: Jacob deGrom (23.5) and Scherzer (21.1).
Scherzer, who will turn 38 in late July, has finished in the top five in Cy Young Award voting in eight of the last nine years (the pandemic-shortened 2020 season being the exception).
After he was traded to the Dodgers (with Trea Turner) at the deadline, Scherzer was the most dominant pitcher in baseball. In 11 starts and 68.1 innings he posted a 1.96 FIP and 0.820 WHIP, striking out 89 against just 48 hits.
If Max Scherzer’s deal gets done as the Mets expect, the average annual value will be somewhere in the range of $43 million a year — a staggering jump of nearly 20% from the current record AAV of $36 million held by Gerrit Cole. It is a huge number, especially for a 37-year-old.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 29, 2021
The combination of Scherzer and a healthy deGrom is the best 1-2 punch in the game (with respect to Walker Buehler and Julio Urias in Los Angeles).
Steve Cohen wanted a winner and it appears he’s ready, willing and able to put his money where his mouth (or, tweets) is in building his team into a championship contender.
Do you like the deal?
Like the Max Scherzer signing for the Mets?
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) November 29, 2021
