MLBPA Player Representative Max Scherzer: Lockout Is a 'Very Likely Scenario'

He addressed baseball's labor strife during his first press conference with the Mets.

Major League Baseball and the MLBPA are just hours away from a potential lockout. Max Scherzer, newly signed to a megadeal with the Mets and a member of Player's Association leadership, says it is a "very likely scenario."

Baseball has rarely garnered this much attention during the offseason, at least in recent memory, thanks to a wild hot stove window. That excitement has come in large part due to the potential for an impending lockout. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, and by all accounts, the two sides are not particularly close to a new deal.

"A lockout seems like that's a very likely scenario," Scherzer said on Wednesday afternoon, per Sports Illustrated's Stephanie Apstein. The pitcher added that the situation helped push him to sign early in free agency, as many others have done in the last few days.

Scherzer says the players see "major problems" with the 2016 CBA. He says a priority is that they believe MLB has "a competition problem" and they want to address that.

— Stephanie Apstein (@stephapstein) December 1, 2021

There are still quite a few issues causing negotiations between both sides to stall, a chief reason being a lack of competitiveness from teams out of playoff contention.

"The union—and especially the man who has, for better or for worse, become its lead spokesman, agent Scott Boras—believes that at any moment only half the teams are trying to win. Boras refers to the tanking epidemic, in which teams offload payroll and purposely lose games in order to obtain high draft picks and jumpstart cycles of inexpensive success, as a “competitive cancer” infecting the sport."

Scherzer's three-year, $140 million deal helps outline the situation quite well. At the moment, he could be set to make more than the payrolls of two entire rosters this season.

Estimated current opening day payrolls, per @baseballpro:

Seattle Mariners: $57 million
Cleveland Guardians: $46.7 million
Max Scherzer: $43.3 million
Pittsburgh Pirates: $40.2 million
Baltimore Orioles: $37 million

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 29, 2021

Scherzer's contract reportedly includes a full no-trade clause, as well as incentives for winning MVP, the Cy Young Award, World Series MVP, NLCS MVP, and All-Star Game selections.

• Inside The Mets: Why Max Scherzer Chose Mets in Free Agency
• Max Scherzer Deal Is Major Flex For the Mets; Now They Need More
• Rangers' Historic Spending Spree Probably Won't Play Immediate Dividends
• Báez, Tigers Reportedly Close to Multi-Year Deal

For more news on the New York Mets, head over to Inside The Mets.