The Nationals and right-hander Max Scherzer finalized a seven-year, $210 million contract yesterday. It has already been reported that half of the money in the contract will be deferred, which brings down the present-day value of the deal, but ESPN’s Jayson Stark has some interesting details in the year-to-year breakdown.
It goes like this:
2015: $10 million
2016: $15 million
2017: $15 million
2018: $15 million
2019: $35 million
2020: $35 million
2021: $35 million
While it looks like Scherzer will be making $35 million per season from 2019-2021, it’s not going to work out that way. Exhale, Nats fans. That total ($105 million) is being deferred without interest, reportedly through 2028. Meanwhile, he’ll receive the remaining $50 million in the form of a signing bonus over the life of the contract. That’s some pretty nifty bookkeeping for all involved and it could allow the Nationals to have some extra wiggle room with their budget. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier this week that the Nationals are expected to be charged for the present-day value of the contract for luxury tax purposes, which will likely work out to around $26-27 million per season as opposed to $30 million.
