Nationals: Is Scherzer’s $210 Million Enough?

It’s hard to believe there are 28 Major League Baseball (MLB) players who are getting paid more than $20 million dollars this season to indulge in America’s favorite pastime. It might be even harder to believe that the Washington Nationals All-Star pitcher Max Scherzer isn’t among those 28 players. He has been one of the best pitchers in the entire league statistically, leading his team to 10 wins with a 2.11 ERA, the third lowest in franchise history ever going into the All-Star break.

When the Nats signed “Mad Max” to a seven year, $210 million dollar contract this offseason, many believed the final piece of the puzzle was found. Having signed on the dotted line, Scherzer will collect a cool $50 million dollar in bonuses alone before ever throwing a single pitch in a Nationals uniform. However, with his contract being spread over seven years, his pay breaks down to less than $20 million per year. Washington is basically getting one of the Top 5 pitchers in the league for the price of one ranked at 25.

Half way through the 2015 season, Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo seems to be a front office wizard for the offseason maneuvers he used to get the Nats the best bang for their buck.

Scherzer is scheduled to make $17,142,857 this season which breaks down to a base salary of $10 million with an additional $7,142,857 in signing bonus. He has dominated the competition this year with 132 innings pitched and is among the top three in the big leagues statistically. He leads the majors with an 0.78 WHIP percentage which is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. Mad Max is also leading the MLB with an Opponent AVG of .185, the combined batting average of the players he has faced over the course of this season.

When comparing Scherzer’s statistics and salary to those of the other pitchers leading the league, you could certainly say the Nats hit a home run, signing him for the salary they did. The LA Dodgers will pay the 2014 NL MVP, Clayton Kershaw, $30 million this year as the league’s highest-paid player according to Forbes. Half way through the season, Kershaw has an ERA of just 2.85 ranking him 21st on the list of MLB pitchers. Kershaw’s record of 6-6 isn’t something to write home to mom about but his league-leading 160 strikeouts might be. Scherzer has thrown 150 strikeouts of his own so far and will make almost $13 million dollars less than Kershaw; all the while turning in four more additional wins than Clayton did for the Dodgers.

Scherzer’s third straight All-Star selection has earned him an additional bonus of $100,000 dollars this season and, if he keeps up this pace, he could be collecting $500,000 dollars for an MVP award in 2015. He could get another half million for taking home the Cy Young Award which crowns the best pitcher in baseball.

However, if you look into Max’s eyes, besides seeing two different colored irises, you will see the hunger and determination that a true leader brings to his squad each time he takes to the mound. After coming within one pitch of a perfect game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 20th, he completed a no-hitter… after retiring the first 26 batters. It was only the second no-hitter in Nationals’ history proving, not only to Washington fans but to the entire baseball world, that he is among baseball’s elite pitchers.

The 2013 AL Cy Young award winner has been as advertised for the Nationals so far this season. It’s hard to believe that their bullpen includes Jordan Zimmerman, Drew Storen, Doug Fister, Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg as well as Scherzer. And Scherzer not eating up $30 million a year for Washington has enabled the team to keep its high-powered pitching rotation firing on all cylinders.

As we move into the second half of the year, keep an eye on the $210 million man to continue his reign as one of the best pitchers in baseball. He will likely lead one of the top teams to the ultimate prize… a World Series title.