In the last few days, Manny Machado said loud and clear that he intended to become a free agent in a year. Whether it’s to return to San Diego (his option of choice) or to go elsewhere, he wants to be paid dearly. Very expensive, even.
Max Scherzer is another player to watch next winter in this regard since he too can use an exit option.
Remember that he has passed one of the three years of his contract and that he can get out of the last year after the 2023 season.
But his plan is not necessarily to use it. For what?
Because, as mentioned by Andy Martino, Scherzer didn’t negotiate his exit option for the same reasons as the other guys.
He did it to protect himself…or not to get “caught” on a team that isn’t going anywhere.
Signing in New York, he knew there was a chance that Jacob deGrom would leave after the 2022 season. He announced it a year ago and he eventually signed with Rangers. He is less likely to win, but he will make a lot more money there.
As deGrom is a big reason he chose the Mets, he didn’t want to be alone in the world after the 2022 season. Steve Cohen may have promised him efforts to win, but…
So, in effect, his exit option was mostly to make sure that if the Mets didn’t line up to win in 2024, as he planned, the pitcher was going to be able to leave.
But clearly, we saw what Steve Cohen did recently. That convinced the pitcher, who received a Justin Verlander as a gift to help him at the top of the rotation.
I got my answer.
–Max Scherzer
Does that mean he won’t use his exit option in a year? He’ll see it since maybe he’ll want to negotiate a bigger contract (with the Mets) if the situation is right, but he’s already earning $43.3 million per season. Nobody makes more money than him in 2023.
But clearly, he doesn’t want to get out of contract just to get out of contract. The plan to win in New York is very real with the pitcher.
- Small contract in Minnesota.
- Will the Cubs sign Shohei Ohtani?
- Aaron Hicks has to get up.
