The Washington Nationals signed Max Scherzer to a bit of an unusual contract prior to the 2015 MLB season.
It featured deferred money that means the Nats are actually still paying Scherzer even as he considers retirement from the Toronto Blue Jays.
It’s a fascinating subplot to consider while Scherzer thinks about what’s next.
No, it likely won’t influence Scherzer’s playing decision. He’ll keep pitching if he still feels like he’s able of getting through a full season.
But it does mean that even if Scherzer hangs up his cleats, he still has a few more handsome paydays waiting for him.
How Much Nationals Owe Max Scherzer Via Old Contract
When Scherzer signed with the Nationals before the 2015 season in free agency, it was a seven-year, $210 million deal.
Half of the money was deferred, though, a total of $105 million.
The Nationals did that in part to drop his annual average value toward the salary cap by $2 million per season, via the league rules, but also to have more real cash on hand to potentially pay to other players.
That deferred money meant an agreement needed to be reached for how the Nats would pay Scherzer the remainder of the money.
They agreed that Scherzer would get $15 million per year in every year from 2022 through 2028.
That means that, as the 2026 season ends, Scherzer has gotten five seasons worth of that (2022-2026).
He’s got two seasons in which he’ll still get the deferred payments of $15 million, so that’s still $30 million coming Scherzer’s way.
Worth the Cost
When the Nationals signed Scherzer, it was a statement of intent that they wanted to grow into one of the best teams in MLB.
In 2019, after a miserable start to the season and a crazy turnaround, they did that. They won the World Series.
Scherzer was magnificent in that postseason, appearing six times for 30.0 innings with 37 strikeouts and a 2.40 ERA.
He had a 2.92 ERA in that season, which was actually worse than the 2.51 and 2.53 he had in the two years prior with the Nationals.
Scherzer began his Washington career with five consecutive seasons of an ERA under 3.00.
He ended up pitching in 189 regular season games with the Nats to the tune of a 2.80 ERA and 1,610 strikeouts in 1,229 innings (11.8 K/9).
Scherzer didn’t finish his tenure with the Nationals. In July 2021, they traded him to the Dodgers with Trea Turner for Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, Gerardo Carrillo and Donovan Casey.
At the time it looked like a pretty solid haul, although it really hasn’t panned out that way.
Still, the Nationals can know that every time they send Scherzer more money, he made their franchise into a World Series champion. That can never be taken away.
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