2020 salary terms still need to be hammered out. But what about what’s owed to players beyond that point? The near-term economic picture remains questionable at best. That’ll make teams all the more cautious with guaranteed future salaries.
Every organization has some amount of future cash committed to players, all of it done before the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe. There are several different ways to look at salaries; for instance, for purposes of calculating the luxury tax, the average annual value is the touchstone, with up-front bonuses spread over the life of the deal. For this exercise, we’ll focus on actual cash outlays that still have yet to be paid.
We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Prior entries can be found here. Next up is the Nationals:
*Includes deferred salary and interest in Stephen Strasburg contract
*Includes deferred salary in Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin contracts
*Includes buyouts on club options over Howie Kendrick, Anibal Sanchez, Adam Eaton, and Eric Thames
(click to expand/view detail list)
Max Scherzer is gettin old
Still one of the best. Hope he gets into HOF as a Nat.
As long as they re-sign him they will. Even likely if they don’t
He’s a strong bet to get in. Why would it not be as a National? Unless he changes teams(unlikely) and continues his dominance, he’s not going in as a Tiger and definitely not a D-Back.
Id assume Nats is likely, but why is Tigers so unlikely? its where he rose to prominence. i know there was a bit of a contractual issue if i read one of the articles right, but i dont see that making it a full no-go.
If he retired today it would be up in the air. However if the nats extend him for a few years beyond his current contract or until he retires, which I think they will, then it would be pretty much a lock for him to go in as a nat
It would 100% be as a National if he elects for a logo. Scherzer was great in a Tigers uniform, but he’s been elite and arguably the best pitcher in baseball since joining Washington. He’s been an All-Star ever year, captured two more Cy Young’s, and won a championship.
Even after his Cy Young season in Detroit, there were many questioning how elite he truly was hence the failed extension negotiations with Detroit and the fact that he didn’t sign with Washington until late January. He and Boras felt he was worth a certain number that many teams didn’t want to reach. Fortunately for the Nationals, they were right.
His situation is similar to Greg Maddux. Highly successful with Chicago, but even better with Atlanta. Many thought he’d go in a Brave, but he opted to carry both cities into Cooperstown.
If I’m betting, I’d say he opts for no logo, but he definitely won’t go in as a Tiger.
Please. Scherzer is NOT going into the HOF as a Tiger. The club basically let him walk in free agency.
The Nats believed in the guy so much that they chucked a Brinks truck at him at contract time. His bulldog mentality in the WS has made him a legend in DC. He has a ring with the The Nats. Max will probably NEVER have to buy a drink or meal at a restaurant in DC for the rest of his life. He’s wearing a Nats hat.
He was a great picture but he was a greedy SOB turn down big money guaranteed contract and snubbed it in the owners face that’s why it’s not a Detroit tiger anymore thank God.
Lol…bitter fan. If you got offered about a 50% raise you wouldn’t leave your current job? And the difference is exponential at his income level.
Bitter Detroitfan69,
Max is “not a Detroit Tiger anymore thank God” — that’s what Max is saying right now, yes ?
Did he literally “snub it in the owners faces” or did you mean he turned their offer for a better offer?
If Max doesn’t get into the hall then somebody somewhere screwed up worse than Manfred when he handed out punishment to the Astros
Pitching as a whole will need to be reevaluated on HOF merit. No one is pitching into their 40’s anymore for longevity stats and teams have become more specialized to no one is pitching late into games anymore either. Mad Max should be a lock, but he (or anyone else really) won’t get those hallowed/automatic numbers like 300 wins.
Scherzer is a 3 Time Cy Young Award winner. A lock for Cooperstown.
And even when he hasn’t won it, he has placed top 5 in voting since 2013, and top 3 in voting since 2016.
Good point.
I’d be curious to see what Scherzer would get if he were a free agent today (with no covid). He’s definetly getting older but he’s still an animal. He’s been worth every penny for the nationals
like Betts i dont see the virus making a big impact. top tier guys will get the same because if the big fish balk at what the price might have been in a normal year, someone will probably jump in and cause a mini bidding war that pushes the price back up.
I’d say something around 3/100.
With no covid. That’s funny.
How long is scherzer under contract for?
2021
Mike Rizzo is obsessed with making starting pitching the focus of his team. Good for the Nats it paid off in 2019 but they are not set up very well long term with how much they are paying their rotation
I guess that depends on how players develop. Having Soto, turner, keiboom, and Robles on pre-arb/arbitration salaries for the next several years affords them the luxury to spend elsewhere.
Their lineup is so top heavy they are going to need more than that. 2019 was their best chance and good for them for hitting on it.
The top heavy players make less than one guy on a QO. They can afford to augment their roster. I’d argue they won but had better teams that didn’t win in years prior. It’s all about getting hot at the right time
Kieboom
100% chance that Max is a hall of fame pitcher of he’s performing well through the life of that contract, even if he isn’t his elite self.
Nats are the team to pay a player 10 million dollars. $10 a year for a million years.
Nationals love themselves some deferred contracts. At least with the Stras deal they are paying interest.