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Mets In Serious Talks With Max Scherzer

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10:48am: Martino tweets that an agreement between the two parties again appears close.

9:50am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets’ offer to Scherzer is in the three-year, $129MM range. Sherman suggested earlier this morning that the Mets had the top offer and the Dodgers seemed reluctant to go beyond two years (Twitter thread).

Nov. 29, 9:33am: The Mets and Scherzer’s camp have “re-engaged” after some brief downtime overnight, Martino tweets. Martino suggests that talks could be nearing the finish line.

Nov. 28: The Mets are nearing a multi-year contract with Max Scherzer, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi writes (Twitter link).  Based on multiple reports from earlier tonight, Scherzer may be on the verge of signing the largest average annual value contract in baseball history.  SNY’s Andy Martino reported earlier tonight that the Mets were prepared to go beyond $40MM in annual salary, and in Martino’s latest tweet, he writes that New York is offering Scherzer a $42MM AAV over either three or four years.  Scherzer is represented by the Boras Corporation.

The news puts an exclamation point on a pitching search that has thus far been fruitless for the Mets, as targets such as Kevin Gausman, Jon Gray, Justin Verlander, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz have all come off the board.  Matz’s deal with the Cardinals even drew some public ire from Mets owner Steve Cohen on Twitter, who accused agent Rob Martin of “unprofessional behavior” in their negotiations.

Those near-misses now fade into the background in the wake of what might be a precedent-setting contract with one of the best pitchers in baseball history.  Scherzer was seen as more likely to sign with a team on the West Coast, as per his preferences when leveraging his no-trade clause to join the Dodgers back at the trade deadline.  As such, teams like the Dodgers, Angels, and Giants were known to be in the hunt for the 37-year-old ace, but instead, Scherzer now seems poised to return to both the East Coast and the NL East itself, after six-plus seasons with the Nationals.

While Scherzer was already a highly accomplished pitcher before he went to Washington, he rose to legendary status after signing his seven-year, $210MM free agent pact with the Nats in the 2014-15 offseason.  Scherzer’s stint in D.C. included two NL Cy Young Awards (to go with his 2013 AL Cy with the Tigers), two no-hitters, a 20-strikeout game, a 2.80 ERA over 1229 innings, and the crowning achievement of the Nationals’ 2019 World Series championship.  All told, a strong case can be made that Scherzer’s deal is the best mega-deal in the history of free agency.

Once the Nationals fell out of contention this summer, Scherzer and Trea Turner were dealt to Los Angeles in a blockbuster swap, and Scherzer continued to pitch well in leading the Dodgers to the NLCS.  The Dodgers were still considered as the favorites to re-sign Scherzer up until just earlier this evening, as the Dodgers’ deep pockets gave them the flexibility to consider the type of huge AAV required to meet Scherzer’s asking price.  MLB Trade Rumors indeed projected Scherzer to set a new AAV standard, predicting him to a land a three-year, $120MM pact to remain in Dodger blue.

Mets May Be Favorite For Max Scherzer

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9:47PM: The Dodgers remain in the mix for Scherzer but are “not the favorites at the moment,” as per Jorge Castillo of The Los Angeles Times.  Indeed, there are “growing indications” that the Mets will sign Scherzer, as per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, with the New York Post’s Joel Sherman adding that Scherzer and the Mets have made progress towards an agreement.

8:47PM: The Mets have offered Scherzer a multi-year contract, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, that could be a three-year, $120MM pact.

7:16PM: The Mets’ offer to Scherzer has an average annual value of more than $40MM, according to Martino, but the length of the offer isn’t known.  This would represent the largest AAV for any player in baseball history.

6:58PM: The Dodgers “are perceived as the favorite” to sign Scherzer, Heyman tweets.  However, the “Mets’ full attention at [the] moment” is directed at Scherzer.  If Scherzer does sign elsewhere, New York will likely turn its attention towards Gausman as the backup plan.  SNY’s Andy Martino writes that the Mets hope to have either Scherzer or Gausman signed within the next 24 hours.

11:54AM: Max Scherzer is expected to make a decision about where to play next year before the impending lockout, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Heyman lists the Dodgers, Giants, Angels and Mets as some of the teams that are under consideration.

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and MLBPA expires at 11:59 pm ET on December 1, with the general expectation being that a lockout and transaction freeze will then be implemented if no new deal is in place at that time. That has led to a flurry of activity in recent weeks, as many teams, agents and players seemingly prefer to get their business done now as opposed to waiting until some undetermined date when the lockout is finished. It would appear that Scherzer is in that camp.

The starting pitching market has easily been the busiest so far this year, as Eduardo Rodriguez, Anthony DeSclafani, Justin Verlander, Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard, Andrew Heaney and Michael Wacha have all signed in the past two weeks, with Corey Kluber also signing today. Kevin Gausman is also reportedly planning on signing in the coming days.

Scherzer’s free agency is a very unique case, given his elite skill level and relatively older age, compared to the other top names on the free agent market. Kevin Gausman and Robbie Ray, the only two hurlers ahead of Scherzer on MLBTR’s list of Top 50 Free Agents, are both currently 30 years old, whereas Scherzer turned 37 in July. But given his tremendous track record of success in his career, his prediction was for a much higher salary on an annual basis, $120MM over three years, AAV of $40MM. That would be a new high for AAV across the league, breaking Gerrit Cole’s record of $36MM. Gausman and Ray, on the other hand, were predicted to get to the vicinity of $25MM annually, but each over a longer term than Scherzer.

Scherzer already has an incredible career resume, with 14 seasons of quality work, including eight All-Star appearances, three Cy Young Awards, a World Series championship and various other accolades. In 2021, he logged 179 1/3 innings between the Nationals and Dodgers. His 2.46 ERA was the lowest of his career. His 34.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate were both much better than league average. In short, he would be a huge upgrade for any team in the league. But if he’s going to cost around $40MM per year, budgetary concerns will make him a better fit on some teams than others.

The Mets have already been throwing lots of money around, as they recently signed Mark Canha, Starling Marte and Eduardo Escobar. That spending spree has pushed their 2022 payroll to $225MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That’s already well beyond last year’s opening day payroll of $195MM, which was itself a franchise high, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. To add someone like Scherzer would require pushing their previous boundaries even further.

The Angels also ran a franchise-high payroll on opening day last year, getting up to almost $182MM, per Cot’s. For 2022, they’re currently sitting at $157MM, per Martinez, about $25MM shy of last year. Adding Scherzer would likely involve blowing past that number, as well as changing their previous avoidance of giving out contracts of any kind of length to starting pitchers. As recently explored by MLBTR’s Steve Adams, they haven’t given a starting pitcher a deal longer than one year since Joe Blanton way back in 2012, and even that was just two years.

The Giants have lots of payroll space, but also lots of holes to fill. Cot’s pegs their 2021 opening day number just shy of $150MM, but they’ve been as high as $200MM before, in 2018. They’re currently sitting around $115MM for next year, per Martinez, but still have many areas of need. Their rotation lost four members from 2021, and though they’ve since re-signed Anthony DeSclafani, they still need to replace Alex Wood, Kevin Gausman and Johnny Cueto. (It was reported a week ago that Wood was close to deal to return, though it doesn’t seem to have been finalized yet.) They could also use a right-handed outfielder, having already been connected to Starling Marte and Seiya Suzuki. It seems more likely that they would spread their budget around to multiple arms, but if they want to make a run at a huge name like Scherzer, they have a payroll situation that could make it doable.

As for the Dodgers, whom acquired Scherzer at last year’s trade deadline, their opening day payroll in 2021 was almost $248MM, per Cot’s, easily the highest such number in the league. They’re currently sitting over $205MM for next year, according to Martinez, and could welcome Scherzer back into the fold if they’re willing to spend at similar levels this year.

Latest On Mets’ Starting Pitching Targets

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9:10 pm: Jon Heyman of the MLB Network tweeted this afternoon that the Mets seemed to be prioritizing Max Scherzer and Gausman above Ray at the top of the market, which could align with concerns about forfeiting a top 15 pick by signing a qualified free agent. Heyman notes that the Mets remain interested in Stroman, among others.

1:23 pm: Billy Eppler has only formally been the Mets’ general manager a bit more than a week, but he’s jumped right into the mix and is working to bolster the team’s starting staff. Eppler said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM this week that he’s “engaged in a ton of starting pitching right now” (Twitter link, with audio).

A spotlight was shined on the Mets’ interest in the rotation market this week when owner Steve Cohen voiced frustration with Steven Matz’s representatives after the lefty spurned his former Mets club to sign a four-year deal with the Cardinals. The Mets also attended Justin Verlander’s showcase earlier this offseason, though he has since re-signed with the Astros.

Starting pitching is an obvious need for the Mets, who’ve already watched Noah Syndergaard reject their qualifying offer for a slightly larger guarantee with the Angels. The Mets also don’t know whether free agent Marcus Stroman will return, and they’ve already announced that Carlos Carrasco underwent surgery to remove bone fragments from his pitching elbow. The current timeline has Carrasco returning early in Spring Training, but that issue, combined with David Peterson’s late-July foot surgery and the forearm issue that ended Jacob deGrom’s season in early July, only serves to further muddy the outlook.

The Mets are reportedly loath to sign a free agent who’d require them to surrender a draft pick, as doing so would mean forfeiting their second-highest pick — in this instance, the No. 14 overall selection in the draft. New York also has the No. 11 pick as compensation for not signing top pick Kumar Rocker in the 2021 draft. That might take Robbie Ray off the table, but he’s the lone remaining free agent starting pitcher tied to draft compensation. (The New York Post’s Mike Puma argued this week that even that steep penalty shouldn’t necessarily dissuade the Mets from pursuing Ray.) The remainder of free agents, including Stroman, Kevin Gausman, Jon Gray and Carlos Rodon, among others, can be signed absent of draft-pick considerations.

The trade market, of course, presents myriad other opportunities. One interesting note raised by Eppler — speaking more generally and not specifically with regard to the rotation — was the Mets’ ability and openness to take on a bad contract as a means of effectively purchasing a prospect from another club. Eppler was the Angels’ general manager when they traded 2019 first-round pick Will Wilson to the Giants in order to shed the remainder of Zack Cozart’s contract while dealing with payroll limitations from his prior ownership. Now, Eppler suggests he could be on the opposite side of such a transaction.

“There are avenues to go grab contracts elsewhere and tie prospects to them,” said Eppler. “Some teams are still doing that — most teams are not — but I think the openness and willingness to be able to say, ’We’re going to spend a lot on this player, the contract might be a touch underwater, but we’re going to get this prospect back.’ Exploring those, and trying to push those through a little more — there’s an openness to do that here.”

There are various permutations of that arrangement. The Wilson/Cozart deal, in its simplest form, came down to the Giants effectively purchasing a prospect from the Eppler’s Angels. However, it’s also fairly common for teams to take on an underwater contract when acquiring a more desirable player, providing some salary relief in exchange for surrendering less in terms of prospect capital.

For instance, if the Mets were to make a strong push for one of the Athletics’ available starters (e.g. Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt), offering to take on the remaining $8.25MM owed to outfielder Stephen Piscotty could persuade the A’s to settle for a lesser return. To be clear, that’s just one example — and there’s no indication the A’s are open to that specific scenario. But, that type of arrangement is another in which Eppler could leverage the Mets’ financial might in trade talks.

Whichever route the Mets ultimately take, some kind of upgrade seems inevitable. Their current rotation projects to include deGrom, Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, Tylor Megill and Peterson. It’s not at all a poor quintet if all are healthy, but for a big-market club with postseason aspirations, an additional veteran (or two) to add some dependable innings behind deGrom is a logical pursuit.

Cardinals Notes: Reyes, Hicks, Scherzer, Matz

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The Cardinals’ rotation for 2022 is 80% set, with Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson pencilled into four out of the five slots. However, that last spot could still seemingly go in many different ways, either with internal or external options. Derrick S. Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch spoke to the team’s president of baseball operations John Mozeliak about the various paths they’re choosing between.

The club is apparently giving consideration to Alex Reyes and Jordan Hicks, both of whom having been primarily working as relievers in recent years and are questionable fits for rotation jobs. Reyes had an excellent year out of the bullpen in 2021, eventually becoming the team’s closer. In 72 1/3 innings, he had an ERA of 3.24 with a strikeout rate of 30% and notched 29 saves. However, that also came with a walk rate of 16.4%, around twice the league average. He also comes with a lengthy injury history that has limited his contributions in his career thus far. Those 72 1/3 innings from this year are the most he’s thrown since 2016, when he threw 111 1/3 between Triple-A and the big leagues, which is the most he’s logged in a single season. That was followed by a completely lost season in 2017 and three straight years of just a few dozen each.

The situation with Hicks is somewhat comparable, as he had an excellent season in 2018, throwing 77 2/3 innings out of the bullpen with a 3.59 ERA. However, he was limited to 28 2/3 innings in 2019 before having to undergo Tommy John surgery, opted out of 2020 and then was limited by injuries to just 13 innings in 2021, between Triple-A and the big leagues. Expecting him to jump into a rotation job at this point seems like a tall ask, and Mozeliak admitted as much. “My guess is no better than yours or anybody else’s,” he said, in regards to what Hicks could provide in the future. “For him to go out and pitch north of 100 innings would be maybe putting him in a difficult spot.”

In addition to those two, Goold also lists Jake Woodford, Johan Oviedo and Genesis Cabrera as those who are in the mix. Despite all of those candidates, the club is still looking into external options, which is understandable based on how 2021 went. Multiple injuries caused the club the struggle in the first half, leading them to make the mid-summer additions of Jon Lester, J.A. Happ and Wade LeBlanc. Although that helped stabilize the staff and get the club into the playoffs, they’re all now free agents. As Mozeliak puts it, “Last year, we thought we had nine or 10. I think you’ve got to have some protection going in regardless of what we say we’re going to get them to do… Having some additional arms is healthy.”

Goold’s report says that free agent Max Scherzer “would entertain an offer from the Cardinals”, which is notable because Scherzer was apparently unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to join them this past summer, preferring to become a member of a West Coast club. However, now that he is trying to maximize his earning potential, it makes sense that he would try to keep as many buyers at the table as possible, in order to ensure healthy bidding. Even if Scherzer is genuinely open to working in Missouri, where he was born and raised, the club may have trouble fitting him into the budget, as their 2022 payroll is currently over $142MM, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That’s around $20MM shy of 2021’s opening day payroll, which was a franchise record, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Scherzer is likely to command much more than that for an annual salary, with MLBTR recently predicting he garners a contract of $120MM over three years, an annual average value of $40MM.

A pitcher who will come much cheaper is Steven Matz, who was at the GM Meetings yesterday, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. Healey lists the Cardinals as being interested in his services, along with the Red Sox, Angels and Dodgers. MLBTR predicted Matz to land a deal of $27MM over three years, an AAV of $9MM which would certainly fit into the Cards’ payroll much more neatly than Scherzer’s. Matz had a solid year for the Blue Jays in 2021, throwing 150 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.82. He figures to be popular among teams hesitant to surrender draft picks, as he didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Jays.

Dodgers To Start Walker Buehler In NLCS Game 6

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The Dodgers have announced that Walker Buehler will get the start in tonight’s crucial Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.  Buehler will take the ball in place of Max Scherzer, who was initially slated to start but was scratched yesterday.

Buehler didn’t look sharp in Game 3 against the Braves, allowing two earned runs (and four runs total) on six hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings.  He’ll now take the ball again on only three days’ rest, working on short rest for just the second time in his career, and the second time this postseason.  Los Angeles deployed Buehler for both Games 1 and 4 of the NLDS, and also on three days’ rest, Buehler held the Giants to one earned run over 4 1/3 innings of work.

Since this is the only instance of Buehler pitching on short rest, it is hard to say whether or not his shaky performance in Game 3 (which came a week after Game 4 of the NLDS) was due to after-effects from having only three days to recover and prepare between starts.  Surely the Dodgers would have felt much more comfortable having Buehler fully rested for a potential Game 7, though given how the Dodgers have more or less used an “all hands on deck” philosophy with their postseason pitching mix, it wouldn’t have been shocking if Buehler had been used to record some key outs in relief of Scherzer in Game 6.

That possible scenario didn’t come to pass, however, as Scherzer continues to be bothered by the “dead arm” that plagued him in his Game 2 start against the Braves.  Scherzer was pitching for the third time in six days in that outing, after he had thrown 110 pitches in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Giants, then came into Game 5 as a closer to seal the series with a scoreless ninth inning.  Returning to the mound three days later against Atlanta, Scherzer threw 79 pitches in 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on a walk and four hits (though with seven strikeouts).

In the big picture, Buehler is type of ace a team would love to have on the mound for a possible elimination game, except for the X-factor of how the short rest could impact his work.  It remains to be seen exactly how long of a leash Buehler will receive from manager Dave Roberts, as while Buehler is an ace, the Dodgers don’t have any margin for error being down 3-2 in the series.  Pulling Buehler after, for example, another 3 2/3 innings will leave a lot of outs for the Dodgers bullpen to cover, especially since Joe Kelly has already been removed from the NLCS roster due to injury, and Justin Bruihl’s availability may also be in question due to arm soreness.

Using Buehler tonight also raises the question of how the Dodgers will handle the pitching in a potential Game 7, though obviously L.A. just wants to win tonight before worrying about tomorrow’s issues.  Julio Urias (Game 4’s starter after pitching in relief in Game 2) would also be working on short rest if he pitched in Game 7, though since the Dodgers have already had two bullpen games in this series, normal starter/reliever roles would quite likely be thrown out the window in a Game 7 scenario.  It also isn’t known if Scherzer will be available for any action at all, even a one-inning appearance.

Report: Max Scherzer Won’t Start NLCS Game Six

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Max Scherzer won’t be starting for the Dodgers in the sixth game of the NLCS as planned, according to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. As Castillo details, Scherzer’s wasn’t feeling 100% on Sunday when he started game two. The hurler himself said his “arm was dead.” Despite that, the team’s plan was still to start Scherzer in game six tomorrow. Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports that “Scherzer’s arm just hasn’t bounced back” as the team hoped. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports that Scherzer is a possibility for game seven, but it will depend on how he feels between now and then.

This is certainly a concerning development for a Dodgers team that has pushed its pitching staff to the brink of exhaustion this postseason. Since they were in the midst of a race with the Giants for the division crown all season, they had no opportunity to ease off the gas pedal and had to lean on their best pitchers right until the season’s final day. Since they came up short in that race, they had to immediately gear up for the wild card game, which Scherzer started, throwing 94 pitches as the Dodgers walked-off the Cardinals and advanced to the NLDS.

Since then, they have used their starters so much that they had to opt for a bullpen game yesterday, despite the fact that they were facing a 3-1 deficit to Atlanta. Seven different pitchers took the mound for the club and led them to an 11-2 victory that seemed to set the stage for Scherzer to take the ball in game six, attempting to even up the series and force a game seven.

Now that Scherzer is off the table, the Dodgers have a few options, although all of them less appealing than a healthy Scherzer. One would be another bullpen game, although that’s a tall ask given that they just had one. However, they do have tonight off, which should theoretically replenish all of their relievers, at least to some degree.

Another option would be turn to David Price, who was just added to the roster to take the place of the injured Joe Kelly. But Price hasn’t pitched in three weeks, with his last appearance coming October 2nd. And even then, he wasn’t stretched out to start. His last six appearances on the season were out of the bullpen and less than two innings. He was stretched out before that, with five consecutive outings of at least 3 2/3 innings, but the last of those was August 28th. That means he’s almost two months removed from carrying a starter’s workload.

Tony Gonsolin was stretched out to finish the season and could also be leaned on for some innings, though he didn’t pitch at all in the NLDS and has only thrown short stints in the NLCS. His last outing was 39 pitches over two innings on Wednesday, the same night that Julio Urias threw 92 pitches over five innings.

Another option, and probably the best one, would be to have Walker Buehler pitch on short rest. His last outing was on Tuesday, though he only threw 76 pitches after getting chased from the game in the fourth inning.

One way or another, manager Dave Roberts and the rest of the Dodgers’ staff will have to be creative. In order to make it into the World Series, they’ll need to find a way to grind through 18 innings without their best option.

Latest On Max Scherzer’s Free Agency

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Max Scherzer will hit free agency for the second time in his career this winter. His last trip to the open market resulted in a seven-year, $210MM deal with the Nationals that turned out to be one of the best free agent investments in recent memory. Scherzer posted a sub-3.00 ERA in five of his six full seasons in Washington, and he’s performing right at peak level in his platform campaign.

The three-time Cy Young award winner has worked 179 1/3 innings across 30 starts, working to a 2.46 ERA/2.89 SIERA. Among the 123 pitchers with 100+ innings, Scherzer ranks 3rd in ERA, 2nd in SIERA, 3rd in strikeout percentage (34.1%), 2nd in strikeout/walk rate differential (28.9 percentage points) and 3rd in swinging strike rate (15.9%).

Scherzer got off to a typically strong start to the year with the Nats, and he’s only taken things to another level after being moved to the Dodgers alongside Trea Turner in a deadline blockbuster. Since landing in Southern California, he’s worked 68 1/3 frames of 1.98 ERA ball, punching out 33.6% of opposing hitters while walking a minuscule 3.0%. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has already declared Scherzer would get the ball in next week’s single-elimination Wild Card game if the Dodgers can’t track down the Giants in the NL West (via Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic).

That continued dominance should position Scherzer to land the highest average annual value of any player on the market this offseason, with a chance he could threaten Gerrit Cole’s record $36MM AAV for free agent contracts. Scherzer’s age will keep him from coming anywhere close to Cole’s nine-year term, but he’s still in line for a strong commitment over multiple seasons. Scherzer, who turned 37 years old in July, is looking to land a deal that’ll take him into his 40’s, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link).

It’d register as a surprise if any club were willing to offer Scherzer an unprecedented deal in the realm of Cole’s record AAV over four seasons. But a three-year pact with a very strong annual salary indeed seems to be attainable. Scherzer’s former teammate, Justin Verlander, signed a two-year, $66MM extension with the Astros in March 2019 that took effect at the start of last season, his age-37 campaign. Verlander, who posted similar numbers in 2018 as Scherzer has this season, didn’t land a third year. But the Astros’ ace signed his deal a full season in advance of free agency without the benefit of an open market bidding. Scherzer, on the other hand, will have multiple suitors as the best-performing impending free agent pitcher.

And while Verlander’s extension has turned out poorly for the Astros — he’s thrown just six innings over the course of the deal because of an ill-timed Tommy John surgery — he still looks like a plausible qualifying offer candidate. Were the Houston front office to make him a QO (which is expected to land in the $19-20MM range), that’d bring Verlander’s potential earnings up to around $85-86MM over the three-season stretch from 2020-22. It’s not a perfectly analogous situation, of course, but it serves to highlight teams’ general willingness to pay a premium for an ace of that caliber, even as those players enter their late-30’s.

One potential wild card in the Scherzer free agent auction will be geography. At this summer’s trade deadline, he reportedly leveraged his no-trade rights to land with a West Coast contender, with the bidding ultimately coming down to the Padres and Dodgers. It’s possible he’ll prioritize staying out west in free agency, although there’s not yet been any indication that’s the case.

He’ll certainly have no shortage of interest, whether from teams in California or anywhere else. The game’s lowest spenders can safely be ruled out, since they’ll never sign a player who’ll command Scherzer’s level of annual salary. Virtually every pitching-needy contender with ample payroll capacity figures to at least be in contact with his representatives at the Boras Corporation. Where the future Hall of Famer winds up will be among the most fascinating storylines of the offseason.

Padres Had “Strong Interest” In Trea Turner At Trade Deadline

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The Dodgers’ blockbuster acquisition of Max Scherzer and Trea Turner was the biggest news of deadline season, though Los Angeles wasn’t the only NL West power looking to land that same duo from the Nationals.  The Padres were reportedly close to getting Scherzer, and FanSided’s Robert Murray writes that San Diego also had “strong interest” in obtaining Turner.

Despite all these talks, there still seemed to be some distance between the Padres and Nationals in talks.  Murray writes that “a deal was never close” for Turner, while even the Scherzer negotiations were described by one Washington source as “general back and forth.”

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman shed some more light on the Padres/Nationals talks, reporting that the Padres “floated a serious package” for both Scherzer and Turner, “with the idea of offering even more if Nats came back to them.”  Washington apparently didn’t check back in with the Padres, instead taking the Dodgers’ offer of Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, Gerardo Carrillo, and Donovan Casey.  As a counter to Ruiz, San Diego’s offer might have also included a top-tier catching prospect, as Heyman says the Padres and Nationals discussed Luis Campusano.

Had Turner landed in San Diego, the initial plan likely would have been to install him at second base, just as the Dodgers did in order to fit both Turner and incumbent star shortstop Corey Seager into the same lineup.  Turner and Fernando Tatis Jr. would have formed quite a combo up the middle for the Padres, though Turner would have ended up playing shortstop anyway, if Tatis had also re-injured his shoulder in this alternate reality.  Turner might have also been the shortstop anyway, had a healthy Tatis instead been moved to the outfield in order to help preserve his shoulder.

Should Scherzer and Turner help the Dodgers win this year (or in 2022 when Turner will still be under contract), Padres fans will look back on this missed trade with regret, though of course it isn’t known exactly what the Nationals would have demanded from San Diego.  The Dodgers and Padres are currently on pace to meet in the NL wild card game, with Los Angeles holding a three-game lead over San Diego in the standings.  The Padres also have to worry about the surging Reds, who have moved to 3.5 games back of that second wild card berth.

Nationals Notes: Scherzer, Turner, Soto, Staff

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Prior to becoming a member of the Dodgers, there were rumors that the Red Sox were “in the mix” of the Max Scherzer sweepstakes. However, it doesn’t seem as if talks got very far, according to Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. When asked about the report that Scherzer was willing to waive his no-trade rights to join Boston’s rotation, Rizzo said, “We never got that close to a deal with the Red Sox so that was never a question that was posed to him,” according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, relaying an interview with Rizzo on 106.7 The Fan.

Some other notes from DC…

  • Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that the Nats’ last extension offer to Trea Turner was for six years, $100MM. Heyman also says that the Nats didn’t make another offer in the spring of 2021, as had been reported. This would have been fairly close to the six-year, $120MM extension Xander Bogaerts signed with the Red Sox in April of 2019. Although Bogaerts was just a year away from free agency then, whereas Turner would have been three years away in March of 2020. Betting on himself seems to have paid off for Turner so far. His salary in 2020 was $7.45MM, though that was prorated to around $2.75MM with the shortened season. This year, he’s making $13MM and will be in line for a hefty arbitration raise in 2022. He could then go into free agency as a 29-year-old, having already banked around $35MM of that $100MM.
  • Juan Soto “felt something in his knee” in tonight’s game, manager Dave Martinez tells various reporters, including Bobby Blanco of MASN. After a trade deadline fire sale, Soto was the figurative last man standing, staying put and watching Scherzer and Turner walk out the door, as well as Josh Harrison, Yan Gomes, Kyle Schwarber and others. The lefty is having yet another excellent season, with a wRC+ of 144 and 3.1 fWAR. But since the team has seemingly already waved the white flag on the season with the aforementioned fire sale, they can afford to be cautious with their remaining star if any issues arise.
  • Martinez also says five members of his staff that tested positive for COVID-19 have been cleared to rejoin the club, according to Gene Wang of The Washington Post. These positive tests were part of the same outbreak that sent Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson to the IL last week.

Red Sox Notes: Bloom, Scherzer, Sale, Fabian

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Acquiring one of the game’s better power hitters in Kyle Schwarber doesn’t exactly make for a quiet deadline season, though compared to what other AL contenders did in July, the Red Sox were comparatively modest in picking up Schwarber and relievers Hansel Robles and Austin Davis.  Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told MLB.com’s Ian Browne and other reporters that the Sox looked into several trade possibilities, but teams put a very high price tag on pitchers in particular, leaving Bloom’s front office unwilling to sacrifice too much of the future for a short-term gain.

“There were a lot of things that were put to us where we just felt we’re not doing our jobs and ultimately we’re going to let our fans down, whether it be tomorrow or whether it be next year or the year after or all of the above if we did some of things we could’ve done to make more of a splash,” Bloom said.  The $210MM luxury tax threshold “was never a hard line” that prevented the Sox from making a trade, and Bloom said the team indeed considered some moves that would put them in excess of the $210MM figure.  However, “we just didn’t feel like it was worth the cost in talent, let alone the additional effects of going over the line.”

Bloom also denied a report that ownership put pressure on the front office to land Max Scherzer.  The Sox were known to have interest in the former Nationals ace, and Scherzer was reportedly open to the idea of waiving his no-trade protection to come to Boston, before he eventually agreed to be dealt to the Dodgers.

More from Fenway Park…

  • Chris Sale threw 81 pitches over five innings in a Triple-A rehab start yesterday, the longest stint to date of his four minor league rehab outings.  Working a more standard game appeared to Sale, who told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier and other reporters that “I’m starting to get into more of a normal routine and more of fighting the same fight everyone else is fighting, instead of having an injured elbow, fighting back, rehabbing.  I don’t feel that way.  That’s big.”  Sale mostly threw his fastball in the 91-93mph range but occasionally reared back to touch the 96mph mark, while striking out seven and allowing one run (on five hits and a walk) over his five innings.  The left-hander is scheduled for one more Triple-A rehab start this week, and he could then potentially make his long-awaited return to the Red Sox rotation.
  • Second-round pick Jud Fabian won’t be signing with the Red Sox, as a tweet from his personal account more or less (with an assist from Eminem) officially stated he will return to the University of Florida for his senior year.  A $1,856,700 slot price is attached to the 40th overall selection, and rumors have circulated that the two sides were a good distance apart in negotiations — The Athletic’s Peter Gammons reported that Fabian could have landed $3MM from two teams that picked later than the Sox in the second round.  Due to remaining pool space, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis writes that the Sox couldn’t give Fabian more than a $2,100,680 bonus without having to surrender a future first-round pick as punishment for exceeding their pool spending by more than five percent.  The Red Sox will receive the 41st overall selection in next year’s draft as compensation for not signing Fabian.
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