Scherzer is set to be MLB's highest-paid player this season, making over $37MGETTY IMAGES
MLB's average salary is "on track to drop" on Opening Day for an "unprecedented second straight season," according to Ronald Blum of the AP. The 872 players on rosters and injured lists averaged $4.36M, down from $4.41M at the start of last season and $4.45M on Opening Day in '17. These "back-to-back drops follow consecutive slow free-agent markets." Last season's drop was "only the second" since the end of the '94-95 strike. All five of the "highest paid players" this season are pitchers, led by the Nationals' Max Scherzer at $37.4M and D-backs' Zack Greinke at $32.4M. The Red Sox are "set to lead the major leagues in payroll for the second straight year," followed by the Cubs and Yankees (AP, 3/26).
ANOTHER POTENTIAL FREE AGENT GONE: Mets P Jacob deGrom is the latest MLB veteran to re-sign with his current team instead of wading into free agency, as the NL Cy Young Award winner has signed a five-year extension worth $137.5M. DeGrom "had been set to become a free agent" after the '20 season (SNY.tv, 3/26). SPORTSNET.ca's Jeff Blair wrote fans are "not witnessing the death" of the MLBPA, but it is instead becoming "just another union being crushed right now by technology ... and by changing perspectives." Free agency "used to be viewed as a right," but for many players, it is "now a nuisance." The "real story" of this offseason is how "potential market-setting players" began delaying or avoiding free agency altogether (SPORTSNET.ca, 3/25).
