Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

How does No. 2 starter Max Scherzer sound?

In a surprising and invigorating move, the New York Mets have reached the apex of the 2021 offseason by reportedly agreeing to a three-year, $130 million with the three-time Cy Young-award winner.

Scherzer has an opt out after the second year, according to SNY‘s Andy Martino. He also received a full no-trade clause from the Mets, Joel Sherman says.

The long process started days ago, reaching a fever pitch Sunday night. The two sides seemingly worked out terms over the next 12 hours and settled on the massive $43 million average annual value.

He’ll now line up alongside right-hander Jacob deGrom, giving the Mets the best one-two punch in the majors and lifting the team to the upper echelon of World Series contenders in 2022.

If you need a rundown of Max Scherzer’s career accolades, there’s this: three Cy Youngs, five more top-five finishes, eight All-Star nods and a 3.16 ERA over 14 seasons.

The veteran right-hander has been the best pitcher in baseball in the 2010s, and he’s still chugging along at age 37. (He’ll turn 38 in the middle of 2022.)

Scherzer’s latest opus came across two teams in 2021: the Nationals, who he won a World Series with in 2019, and the Dodgers, who lost out on re-signing him this offseason.

After pitching to a 2.76 ERA with the Nats, he was traded alongside Trea Turner at the deadline to Los Angeles, where Scherzer then allowed just five earned runs over his first 58 innings. He also locked down the Dodgers’ National League Division Series win over the Giants with his first career save in Game 5.

This is the second straight offseason the Mets have made a franchise-altering transaction. Following the Francisco Lindor trade, Scherzer joining the Mets gives the team two of the best starting pitchers currently and over the last half-dozen years. It’s the Mets’ biggest free agent starting pitching signing since Pedro Martinez in December 2004.

The Mets and Cohen flirted with the idea of trading for Scherzer at the trade deadline this past season, but Scherzer reportedly would have denied a trade to the Mets, likely due to their downward trend in the standings. It certainly wasn’t due to his success at Citi Field, though, where he has a 2.14 ERA in 92 2/3 innings. (That includes his no-hitter in 2015.)

But, Cohen vowed to give new general manager Billy Eppler “all the resources” he needed to improve the team this offseason, and Eppler & Co. got the offseason started with Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha and Starling Marte. Now, just before a potential lockout with the owners and players, the Mets lock down Scherzer.

As Mets fans have been screaming for decades, money talks. It finally feels like it has.