The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets were opponents in free agency back-to-back years, with the former signing Trevor Bauer to a record-setting contract and the latter adding Max Scherzer on a similar history-making deal.
Bauer’s three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers made him the highest-paid player in MLB history this past season. If not for a likely suspension without pay due to sexual assault allegations, Bauer was due to break his own record in 2022.
Meanwhile, Scherzer signing a three-year, $130 million contract with the Mets shattered Gerrit Cole’s average annual value record ($43.3 million to $36 million).
In addition to surpassing Cole’s AAV, Scherzer now is the oldest player in MLB history to sign a contract worth at least $100 million.
That previously was Kevin Brown, who at 33 signed the first $100 million deal in MLB history with the Dodgers in 1998.
Shortly after news of Scherzer and Mets agreeing to terms, Rachel Luba and Bauer both took credit for the structure of the contract.
Cool to see Scherzer use this new “market” Bauer strived to create for players—shorter deals w/ higher AAV for top-market guys. Creating that market & getting teams comfortable w/$40M+salaries was a huge challenge. Awesome seeing him &his agent use this new market to build off of https://t.co/TGmceuYBXw
— Rachel Luba (@AgentRachelLuba) November 29, 2021
Short term deal for high AAV huh? Hmmm. Interesting. Congrats Max!
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) November 29, 2021
While Bauer did buck a trend of sorts by signing a short-term contract with the Dodgers, his situation hardly was comparable to Scherzer’s. The future Hall of Famer is 37 years old, whereas Bauer signed at 30.
Respected as Scherzer is, it’s unreasonable to believe any team would have offered him a long-term contract. At best, there were reports of the Mets potentially needing to stretch to a fourth year in order to complete the signing.
If there is any correlation between Bauer and Scherzer, it’s loosely on raising the bar with the year-by-year salary. But those already had been on the rise and Bauer undeniably benefitted from his philosophy aligning with that of the Dodgers front office.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman most notably attempted to lure Bryce Harper with a high AAV on a short-term contract, but he preferred a mega deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Uncertainty with Bauer impact Scherzer, Dodgers?
The Dodgers remain in a holding pattern as MLB continues to investigate Bauer over the sexual assault allegations. Uncertainty with respect to possible salary obligations moving forward is presumed to have played a role in the Dodgers’ pursuit — and likely limitations — with Scherzer.
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