Credit: Robby Waldrop
Max Scherzer will be a member of the New York Mets, and he’ll make over $43 million dollars a year for the next three years while playing in Queens.
Naturally, that kind of deal shoots a team’s payroll into meteoric heights. Multiple reports now have the Mets’ 2022 payroll at around $267 million to $268 million.
That would clear the Mets’ highest Opening Day payroll by nearly $100 million, and that is due largely to the Scherzer deal. It also would include the $19.5 million for Starling Marte, $13 million for Mark Canha and $10 million for Eduardo Escobar.
Scherzer’s deal is so rich, it’s higher than the current payroll of some MLB teams, as Jeff Passan points out.
Estimated current opening day payrolls, per @baseballpro:
Seattle Mariners: $57 million
Cleveland Guardians: $46.7 million
Max Scherzer: $43.3 million
Pittsburgh Pirates: $40.2 million
Baltimore Orioles: $37 million— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 29, 2021
Steve Cohen said he wanted to run his franchise like the Dodgers of recent, and he’s acting like it–spending big in free agency while simultaneously trying to build a farm system.
MMO‘s Michael Mayer said the Mets are still interested in signing another pitcher, a reliever and “haven’t ruled out signing another position player.”
So, clearly, the Mets will blow through what ever competitive balance tax exists over the next two years, and now the question is by how much? Will the Mets reach $300 million in payroll?
There is still plenty of offseason to go.
