$60 Million Dollar Man! Texas Rangers Ace Earns Deferred Windfall From Nationals
Max Scherzer is set to receive payments from three different teams in 2024. When the Texas Rangers acquired Scherzer last season, the New York Mets agreed to cover part of his remaining salary.
The Mets and Rangers are sharing the cost of the final year of Scherzer’s contract, which he signed before the 2022 season. The Mets are paying $30.83 million, while the Rangers are contributing $12.5 million, totaling around $43 million.
However, that’s not all Scherzer will earn this year. In Major League Baseball, July 1 marks the start of the fiscal year, often leading to large payouts from deferred contracts.
For instance, July 1 is known as “Bobby Bonilla Day” in New York, where the Mets pay Bonilla $1.19 million annually until 2035 as part of his deferred contract. Similarly, Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. receives $3.59 million from the Cincinnati Reds, making him the fifth-highest-paid Red this year.
Former Rangers slugger Chris Davis is also receiving deferred payments from the Baltimore Orioles, amounting to $9.16 million this year and part of $65 million in deferred payments through 2037.
Scherzer, too, benefits from deferred payments on a contract he didn’t complete with the original team. He signed a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Washington Nationals in 2015, which included deferred payments. These payments continued even after he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021.
This year, Scherzer will receive $15 million in deferred payments from the Nationals. As a result, his total earnings for 2024 will be close to $60 million, with payments coming from the Rangers, Mets, and Nationals.
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