REPORT: Mets Inching Closer to Signing Max Scherzer

His nickname is "Mad Max," but New York Mets' owner Steve Cohen's anger may be the reason behind his team's next potential big free agency signing.

According to multiple reports, 3-time Cy Young award winner and 2019 World Series champion Max Scherzer is close to an agreement with the New York Mets on a three-year contract. Joel Sherman of the New York Post, along with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported the Mets and Scherzer were close to a deal, with MLB Network's Jon Morosi and SNY's Andy Martino getting the latest on what the contract numbers may look like.

After losing out on former Mets left-hander Steven Matz to the St. Louis Cardinals in free agency, Cohen vented about the result on Twitter, blasting Matz's agent for how negotiations ultimately went down.

Matz ended up signing a 4-year deal worth $44 million with the Cardinals, and since pen hit paper, the Mets have been very aggressive in the following days in free agency. On Friday, New York agreed to terms with infielder Eduardo Escobar, versatile utility player Mark Canha, and finally outfielder Starling Marte to a 4-year $78 million dollar deal.

A move for Scherzer, even at 37 years of age, would be the biggest of them all.

He's coming off another brilliant campaign, splitting time between the Nationals and Dodgers in 2021 and pitching in another NLCS before falling to the eventual World Series champion Braves. He made 30 starts, going 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA in 179.1 innings pitched, recording 236 strikeouts and the second-lowest WHIP (walks + hits / inning pitched) of his career. In fact, once Scherzer arrived in L.A, he recorded by far and away the highest strikeout/walk ratio of his career at 11.13. For perspective, he's averaged 4.46 over his Major League career.

UPDATE: Scherzer Signs 3 Years, $130 Million with Mets

It's all but official now, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.

Are the Mets World Series Contenders with Max Scherzer?

The Mets have certainly improved their roster for the 2022 season, and the likely addition of Scherzer cannot be overstated if he continues to pitch at his current form. But they'll still face stiff competition in the NL East with the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies, as well as other notable NL teams like the Dodgers, Padres, Brewers and Giants.

At the conclusion of the 2021 season, WynnBET Sportsbook set the Mets' odds to win the 2022 World Series at +2200. While they're not currently on the board, the addition of Scherzer likely guarantees the top value being no longer available.

I would project that when odds re-open, the Mets will be right around +1200, right behind where their divisional counterpart Atlanta Braves opened at +1100.

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