The Mets are confirming last night’s Mets Police report that the Mets had signed Max Scherzer, something the Mets hadn’t previously shared but my sources had revealed to me.
FLUSHING, N.Y., November 30, 2021 — The New York Mets today announced that the club has signed three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight-time All-Star right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer to a three-year contract.
“Max is a fierce competitor, and we are thrilled to welcome him to New York,” said Mets General Manager Billy Eppler. “The credit goes to Steve and Alex Cohen for their efforts, commitment and resources to bring someone as accomplished as Max into the organization.”
Scherzer went 15–4 with a 2.46 ERA (49 earned runs/179.1 innings) in 30 starts between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers last year. He struck out 236 and walked 36 while earning his eighth All-Star nod. He led the majors in opponents’ batting average (.185) and WHIP (0.864), was second in ERA and walks per 9 IP (1.807), was fourth in strikeouts and pitcher bWAR (6.0), and ranked fifth among pitchers in fWAR (5.4) as well as fifth in wins.
Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner, taking home the trophy with Detroit in 2013 and with Washington in 2016 and 2017. He finished third in voting last season and is one of seven pitchers in major league history to finish in the top five of his league’s Cy Young voting eight or more times.
In 2021, he recorded his ninth season with at least 200 strikeouts. Only Nolan Ryan (15), Randy Johnson (13), Roger Clemens (12) and Tom Seaver (10) have more seasons with 200 or more strikeouts. Scherzer has 104 games with double-digit strikeouts during his career, the fifth-most in major league history, behind Ryan (215), Johnson (212), Clemens (110) and Pedro Martinez (108). He became the 19th pitcher in major league baseball to reach 3,000 strikeouts on September 12, 2021.
Scherzer is the active leader in strikeouts and ranks third among active pitchers in ERA, fourth in wins and bWAR for pitchers (67.1), and fifth in starts. He has led his league in wins four times, strikeouts three times and innings twice.
Scherzer is second in the majors with 36 starts of 7.0 or more innings and two earned runs or fewer allowed since 2018 (Jacob deGrom is first with 42). According to Fangraphs, Scherzer leads the majors with 33.2 WAR since 2016. DeGrom is second with 30.5.
Scherzer is 10–2 with a 2.14 ERA (22 earned runs/92.2 innings) with 125 strikeouts in 14 career starts at Citi Field. He tossed his second career no-hitter at Citi Field on October 3, 2015.
According to Elias, Scherzer and deGrom will become the seventh duo of multi-Cy Young Award winners to pitch for the same team in the same season, joining the 2021 Dodgers (Scherzer & Clayton Kershaw), 2008 Mets (Pedro Martínez & Johan Santana), 2005–2007 Mets (Martínez & Tom Glavine), 1999–2002 Braves (Glavine and Greg Maddux), 2001 Red Sox (Martínez & Bret Saberhagen) and the 1986 White Sox (Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton).
A member of the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals, Scherzer has appeared in 26 career postseason games, including a start in the decisive Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. He was 3–0 with a 2.40 ERA in six games (five starts) during the 2019 postseason. Overall, he has posted a 7–6 record with a 3.22 ERA (46 earned runs/128.1 innings) with 14 walks and 160 strikeouts in 26 games (21 starts) in the postseason.
The eight-time All-Star has posted a 190–97 record with a 3.16 ERA (890 earned runs/2,536.2 innings) with 677 walks and 3,020 strikeouts in 407 games (398 starts) across 14 major league seasons.
He was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round (11th overall) of the 2006 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Missouri.
The Mets also signed my new favorite Met, Mark Canha, who I am actually familiar with because I played a season as the A’s Ducks on MLB The Show during the lockout.
FLUSHING, N.Y., November 30, 2021 — The New York Mets today announced the team has signed outfielder Mark Canha to a two-year contract with a club option for 2024.
Canha, 32, has a .377 OBP over the last three seasons (2019–2021), the second-highest mark in the AL (min. 1,000 plate appearances). He also has 50 doubles, 48 homers, 205 runs scored, 181 walks with a 127 OPS+ during that span.
According to FanGraphs, Canha’s 8.3 WAR since 2019 ranks fourth among AL outfielders behind Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and George Springer.
“Mark is an extremely versatile player, who has an elite ability to get on base,” General Manager Billy Eppler said. “He has gap-to-gap power and can hit in any spot in the lineup.”
He was fourth in the AL with .396 OBP (min. 450 plate appearances) in 2019 and was fifth in 2020 with a .387 OBP. In addition, he was hit by a pitch 27 times in 2021, tied for the fourth-most in American League history and was 11th in the AL in walks with 77.
The 6–2, 210-pounder is among five major league outfielders with a OBP better than .360 and more than 20 stolen bases since 2018, joining Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts and Christian Yelich (min. 400 games).
Canha slashed .231/.358/.387 with 22 doubles, four triples, 17 homers, 61 RBI, 12 stolen and 93 runs scored in 141 games for Oakland in 2021. He cracked a career-high 26 homers with a career-best .396 OBP in 2019.
Canha has slashed .244/.344/.431 with 107 doubles, 13 triples, 89 homers, 294 RBI, 255 walks and 346 runs scored in 645 major league games with Oakland (2015–2021). He was originally selected by the Marlins in the seventh round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.
But wait, there’s more!
FLUSHING, N.Y., November 30, 2021 — The New York Mets today announced they have signed All-Star outfielder Starling Marte to a four-year contract.
Marte, 33, led the major leagues with a career-high-tying 47 stolen bases, succeeding at a 90.4 percent rate, and paced MLB in Fangraphs’ baserunning runs above average metric (12.3) last season. He is one of just 10 players since 1980 to steal as many as 47 bases in one season with a success rate of 90 percent or higher.
“Starling is a premier talent at a premier position,” Mets General Manager Billy Eppler said. “His play in the outfield makes the team stronger at run prevention up the middle and his elite base-running skills are a perfect blend. He has a winning attitude and will be a huge asset as well in our clubhouse.”
A native of the Dominican Republic, Marte began the 2021 season with Miami before being traded to Oakland on July 28. This past season, he posted career-best marks in on-base percentage (.383) and walks (43). He ranked sixth in the majors in batting average (.310) and seventh in on-base percentage. Despite spending half of the year in each league, he still ranked in the top-10 in both the AL and NL in steals, making him the first player in major league history to accomplish that feat, according to Elias.
The 10-year major league veteran was named an All-Star in 2016 and won Gold Glove Awards for his play in left field in 2015 and 2016. He is the only player in the majors with at least 20 stolen bases in every full season since 2013 and ranks second in MLB with 284 steals over the last nine years. Only Billy Hamilton (314) has more steals in that span.
According to Fangraphs, he ranks fourth among major league center fielders since 2018 in WAR (13.4), behind only Mike Trout (22.8), Ronald Acuña (15.8) and George Springer (13.6).
Marte owns a career slashline of .289/.346/.451 with 126 home runs, 502 RBI, 233 doubles, 46 triples, 680 runs scored, 296 stolen bases in 1,134 games with Pittsburgh (2012–2019), Arizona (2020), Miami (2020–2021) and Oakland (2021).
I welcome all these new Mets, free of the unforgivable sin of the 2021 Mets who turned on their own fans.
