Max Scherzer, Mets agree to record-setting three-year, $130 million contract

One of baseball’s most dominant pitchers is returning to the East Coast after a temporary California stay.  

Max Scherzer and the New York Mets have agreed to a three-year, $130 million contract, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. The contract includes a player opt-out after two years and a full no-trade clause. The person requested anonymity because the deal hasn't been announced. 

The deal shatters the record for average annual value (AAV) set by the crosstown New York Yankees and Gerrit Cole ($36 million). Under his new deal, Scherzer will make more than $43 million per year.

Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, spent the second half of last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers following a trade from the Washington Nationals, where he signed a seven-year, $210 million contract before the 2015 season.

The offseason started slow for the Mets, who hired Billy Eppler as general manager on Nov. 18 after a search that lasted more than six weeks after the end of the regular season and dismissal of interim GM Zack Scott. They reached deals with a trio of position players – Eduardo Escobar (two years, $20 million), Mark Canha (two years, $26.5 million) and Starling Marte (four years, $78 million) – on Friday and have now bolstered the rotation with another bonafide ace to complement Jacob deGrom.

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Scherzer, 37, made his eighth consecutive All-Star Game appearance this summer and led the league in WHIP (0.86) and walks per nine innings (1.8). He led the National League in strikeouts for three straight seasons (2016-18) and helped the Nationals win the 2019 World Series.

Since 2013, his first Cy Young season, Scherzer has 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a 149 ERA+ (100 is a weighted average).

A Missouri native, Scherzer – a future Hall of Famer – was the 11th overall selection in the 2006 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who traded him to the Tigers as part of a three-team trade that sent Curtis Granderson from Detroit to the Yankees three years later.

He then spent six-and-a-half years in Washington. Now he’ll be on the other side of the NL East rivalry, with a few more millions of dollars to his name.  

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.