Eight-time All-Star Max Scherzer will reportedly join the New York Mets on a deal that will pay him $43.33 million per year for three years. John Hefti/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Max Scherzer has shattered baseball’s record for highest average salary, agreeing Monday to a $130 million, three-year contract with the New York Mets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is subject to a successful physical.
The $43.33 million average salary is 20% higher than the previous mark, the $36 million Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is averaging in his $324 million, nine-year contract with New York.
Scherzer would have the right to opt out after the 2023 season to become a free agent once again. Scherzer also receives a full no-trade provision, requiring his approval for any deals. The agreement also includes award bonuses.
Scherzer lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, about an hour’s drive from the Mets spring training complex in Port St. Lucie. He was planning to take a physical Monday that is needed for the deal to be completed.
A three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight-time All-Star, the 37-year-old right-hander was 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA last season for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers, who acquired him on July 30. He struck out 236 and walked 36 in 179 1/3 innings, averaging 94.4 mph with his fastball in the final season of a $210 million, seven-year contract that included $105 million in deferred money payable from 2022-28.
He is 190-97 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 major league seasons for Arizona (2008-09), Detroit (2010-14), Washington and the Dodgers. He has distinctive eyes, blue on the right, brown on the left, a condition known as Heterochromia Iridis.
A workhorse who helped the Nationals win the 2019 World Series title, Scherzer won the AL Cy Young in 2013 and consecutive NL Cy Youngs in 2016 and 2017. He finished third in this year’s voting behind Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes and Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler.
He has pitched a pair of no-hitters, in 2015 against Pittsburgh and at the Mets.
Scherzer gets $43,333,333 annually. The Mets deal will raise his career earnings to more than $370 million.
RANGERS: The Texas Rangers have reached an agreement on a $325 million, 10-year deal with shortstop Corey Seager, according to a person familiar with the deal.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical and wasn’t finalized.
Seager was the NL MVP in 2020 and a two-time All-Star in his seven seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit .306 with 16 homers and 57 RBI in 95 games this year, when he broke a finger on his right hand after getting hit by a pitch May 15 and missed 2 1/2 months.
The deal for Seager is the biggest in Rangers history, and matches Giancarlo Stanton for the fifth largest in overall value in baseball. The $325 million trails only the deals of Mike Trout ($426.5 million), Mookie Betts ($365 million), Fernando Tatis Jr. ($340 million) and Bryce Harper ($330 million).
Seager’s deal with the Rangers came a day after Texas reached an agreement on a seven-year, $175 million contract with Gold Glove second baseman Marucus Semien, according a person familiar with that deal that was also pending a successful physical.
MARINERS: Seattle is finalizing a contract with American League Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because Ray still must undergo a physical and the deal has not been signed. ESPN.com first reported the sides were finalizing an agreement, expected to be for $115 million over five years.
Ray is coming off the best season of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, going 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA and 248 strikeouts in 193 1/3 innings. A left-handed power pitcher, Ray led the American League in ERA, games started, innings pitched and led all of baseball in strikeouts.
He immediately becomes the ace of the Seattle staff. The staff includes Marco Gonzales, Chris Flexen and Logan Gilbert under contract for the 2022 season for an ascending Mariners team that went 90-72 last season and barely missed snapping the club’s 20-year playoff drought.
MARLINS: Miami is finalizing a contract with right-hander Sandy Alcantara, a person with knowledge of the situations said Sunday.
Alcantara’s deal, first reported by The Miami Herald, will be worth $56 million over five seasons. The figures were confirmed by the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither deal has been announced by the Marlins.
The 26-year-old Alcantara has gone 20-34 with a 3.48 ERA in four seasons with the Marlins. He started 33 games this past season for Miami, going 9-15 with a 3.19 ERA and had 201 strikeouts in 205 2-3 innings. The only other pitchers with at least 200 innings and 200 strikeouts in 2021 were Zach Wheeler and Walker Buehler.
BRAVES: Outfielder Marcell Ozuna received a retroactive 20-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.
Ozuna was arrested May 29 on charges of aggravated assault by strangulation and battery after police officers said they witnessed him attacking his wife. He was placed on administrative leave under the domestic violence policy.
The suspension is retroactive to Sept. 10 and covers the final 24 days of the regular season, costing him approximately $1.55 million of his $12 million salary.
Ozuna did not play after May 25 and went on the injured list May 29 with two dislocated fingers on his left hand, missing the Braves’ run to their first World Series title since 1995.
• The Atlanta Braves bolstered their World Series-winning bullpen by signing right-hander Kirby Yates to a two-year, $8.25 million deal.
Yates led the majors with 41 saves for the San Diego Padres in 2019. He didn’t pitch this past season for the Toronto Blue Jays because of undergoing his second Tommy John surgery of his career on March 24.
TRADE: Gold Glove catcher Jacob Stallings is heading to the Miami Marlins.
A person with direct knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press the Pirates have traded Stallings to the Miami Marlins in exchange for pitcher Zach Thompson and prospects Kyle Nicolas and Connor Scott. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
Stallings, 31, is coming off the best season of his career. He earned his first Gold Glove for his handling of an inexperienced pitching staff that ranked among the worst in the major leagues while hitting .246 with career-highs in home runs (8) and RBI (53) in 112 games.
Stallings joins a team that is trying to elbow its way into contention in the NL East. Miami signed outfielder Avisail Garcia to a five-year deal worth $56 million and agreed to terms with pitcher Sandy Alcantara.
CARDINALS: Left-hander Steven Matz and the St. Louis Cardinals finalized a $44 million, four-year contract.
Matz gets a $2 million signing bonus, payable within 30 days of the deal’s approval by the commissioner’s office, and salaries of $8 million next season, $10 million in 2022 and $12 million each in 2023 and 2024.
DRUG REPORT: Major League Baseball and the players’ association stopped blood testing for Human Growth Hormone because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Blood testing for HGH began in 2012, and 412 samples with no positive results were collected in the year ending with the 2020 World Series.
MLB and the union never publicly announced the stoppage in blood testing but its absence was revealed Monday when Thomas M. Martin, the independent administrator of the joint drug program, released his annual report.
The decision to interrupt blood testing during the pandemic was made because drawing blood is more invasive than urine testing and requires additional collectors who would have increased the number of people coming into contact with players and decreased social distancing.
MLB and the union plan to resume blood testing next season.
GIANTS: Right-hander Alex Cobb is close to finalizing an agreement with the San Francisco Giants, a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Cobb still must pass a physical to complete the deal. A 34-year-old free agent, Cobb would give the reigning NL West champions a key veteran near the front of the rotation after the departure of All-Star righty Kevin Gausman to the Toronto Blue Jays on a $110 million, five-year contract.
Cobb went 8-3 with a 3.76 ERA over 18 starts and 93 1/3 innings for the Los Angeles Angels this year. He struck out 98 batters and walked 33.
ATHLETICS: Utilityman Chad Pinder has reached agreement on a $2,725,000, one-year contract and infielder Tony Kemp is receiving a $2.25 million, one-year deal as both players avoided salary arbitration with Oakland Athletics, a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.
The A’s are still without a manager after Bob Melvin departed last month to guide the San Diego Padres.
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