Max Scherzer’s Deal Blows By Gerrit Cole’s Record For Average Annual Value
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The Mets shocked the baseball world on Monday, agreeing to a record-setting deal with free agent ace Max Scherzer.
The contract will pay Scherzer $130 million over three years. That means the average annual value (AAV) of the right-hander’s pact is $43.3 million.
Needless to say, that is a record-setting AAV. But the figure blows the previous record holder, Gerrit Cole, out of the water. Cole signed a nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees before the 2020 season, giving his deal an AAV of $36 million.
Angels superstar Mike Trout has the highest AAV of any position player at $35.5 million, while Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg, Scherzer’s former Nationals teammates, both have deals with an AAV of $35 million.
Francisco Lindor, one of Scherzer’s new teammates on the Mets, is sixth in baseball with an AAV of $34.1 million.
Scherzer, 37, is easily the oldest player in that group, but the Mets are going all-in on the three-time Cy Young winner after he posted 5.4 fWAR for the Nationals and Dodgers in 2021. He and Jacob deGrom are poised to give the Mets an all-time one-two punch at the top of their rotation.
Meanwhile, with Cole in the Bronx, New York City won’t face any shortage of premium pitching any time soon.
MORE:
- Yankees Sign ex-Mets IF José Peraza
- Report: Yankees Showing Interest in Signing Andrelton Simmons
- Corey Kluber Makes AL East Switch, Signs With Rays
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