[ad_1]
This isn’t the type of heat Max Scherzer was supposed to be bringing.
Under normal circumstances, the three-time Cy Young winner would be on the mound throwing fastballs at spring training in his first season with the Mets. Instead he felt the need to go high and tight on MLB and its owners as labor negations hit a roadblock Wednesday — specifically the issue of an international draft — leading to the cancellation of more regular-season games. Scherzer, one of the leaders of the players’ union, said the issue is just MLB “muddying the waters.”
“I was in [Florida]. We were never offered the Int’l draft,” Scherzer tweeted Wednesday night. “We did discuss it, but MLB told us they were NOT going to offer anything for it. At that point, we informed all players & agreed to no draft. This is just MLB muddying the waters and deflecting blame. Fans, [please], hang in there with us.”
The talks, amid a lockout, hit a snag Wednesday after marathon negations Tuesday. The sides hoped to reach a deal and allow MLB to play a full 162-games schedule this season, even extending the Tuesday deadline. Instead commissioner Rob Manfred announced the cancellation of games for the second time, up to April 14 even as progress was made on the competitive balance tax and pre-arbitration pool money.
The idea of an international draft has long been a point of contention for the union. Sherzer tweeted that the union does not need mediation because what the players are offering to MLB is fair for both sides in his mind.
“We want a system where threshold and penalties don’t function as caps, allows younger players to realize more of their market value, makes service time manipulation a thing of the past, and eliminate tanking as a winning strategy,” Scherzer tweeted.
Scherzer, 37, signed a three-year, $130 million contract with the Mets this offseason. The $43.3 million average annual value is an MLB record.
[ad_2]