Exactly half of Scherzer's money was deferred, so the Nats have to pay him 15 mill a year from now until 2028.
As of now they owe him about 142.5 million.
So this could indeed be a factor, I think.
I can't answer the part about the asking price, but based on what we've seen, the money might be the bigger issue.
But maybe Cash is pleading for it with Hal right now...
I liked Don, but he also got on my nerves at times. He and Remy would spend whole half-innings yukking it up about something that had nothing to do with the game.
To each their own.
It's simple, really. A lot of fans truly believe they have sharper baseball minds than the manager and feel entitled to criticize every move they don't understand or don't agree with.
And if you did want to use ERA for the pen, we do have a bunch of guys now with decent ERA's:
Shawaryn 0.90
Workman 1.82
Walden 2.43
Hembree 2.51
Barnes 3.16
Brasier 3.52
Brewer 4.22 (3.00 since May 1)
Much ado about nothing. The 0 for 8 was a nightmare game. But in the other 2 games of the series he had 3 hits and a walk and 2 RBI.
And he's got an OPS of .953 in his last 10 games even with the 0 for 8.
That's right.
The issue is that even by doing nothing, the payroll cost for several players will rise significantly - Sale, Bogey and likely Mookie for starters.
I just assume Cora had his reasons for doing so. As others have said, he's got a lot more information than we do.
And it's not like he's babying starting pitchers every time out. E-Rod has thrown 114 pitches and 111 pitches his last 2 outings.