There are sports fans who follow their favorite teams, and there are sports collectors who follow their favorite players in the sport. And there are sports card investors who buy and sell rookie cards of players whether they like the player or not — just to make a (hopeful) profit. The New York Mets have just signed 3-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer in a historic 3-year pitching deal for $130 million. That comes to just over $43.3 million per year, with an opt-out after the second season.
This new $43.3 million average annual value is the largest deal in MLB history, blowing away Gerrit Cole’s $36 million record deal with the New York Yankees. Mets fans should have something to be quite happy about with the massive spending spree new owner Steve Cohen. That spending spree has already signed Eduardo Escobar, Starling Marte and Mark Canha in contracts exceeding $120 million in value.
As a site for collectibles, it is going to be interesting how much or how little this changes how collectors value Max Scherzer. Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative class. It remains undecided just how in-demand Scherzer rookie cards will be in the years after his career. That said, his cards and other items have been in demand in 2021 and prior year as the themes of collecting and investing have blended.
Scherzer is 37 years old and is already considered a shoe-in as a future Hall of Famer. The Mets need good pitching and Scherzer led the Majors with a .185 opposing team batting average in 2021. His WHIP was 0.864 and his ERA of 2.46 was among the best in the league. By joining Jacob deGrom on the Mets’ mound, that is 5 collective years worth of Cy Young Awards since 2013.
Collectors know that they sometimes have to pay up (or overpay) for certain super-star cards. It turns out that team owners in all sports sometimes have to overpay for their players, and baseball is littered with a history of massive salaries that have not led to World Series wins nor have led to stellar performances that fans would hope match the price tag.
Collectors Dashboard has evaluated some auction sales and “Buy It Now (or Best Offer)” sales on eBay and elsewhere to see what is happening under Max Scherzer’s rookie cards and other key cards and memorabilia that command high prices.
Heritage Auctions had an auction ending on November 18, 2021 for a 2008 Topps Update & Highlights Max Scherzer Rookie #UH280 graded PSA 10 was shown to have sold for $6,300.00.
And on May 7, 2021, Heritage Auctions also sold a Max Scherzer Game Worn & Signed Detroit Tigers Jersey from 2021 that was “unwashed and MLB Authentic” for $2,760.00. Heritage also had sold a 2018 Max Scherzer game worn Washington Nationals Jersey (Photo Matched) for $2,640.00 on May 16, 2019.
Below were some of the most recent top-dollar sales that have been seen on eBay.
On November 21, 2021 a 2008 Topps Chrome Update Max Scherzer rookie PSA 9 Mint #CHR40 sold for $952.52 after 29 bids. Another example of the same card graded as a BGS 9 sold on November 7, 2021 for $862.52 after 16 bids.
On October 29, 2021 a 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft #BDP33 X-FRACTORS Max Scherzer ( /199_ graded as BGS 9.5 sold for $844.00 after 25 bids.
On October 26, 2021 a 2008 Topps Gray Parallel #UH280 Max Scherzer Rookie Mint Card 52/57 that was not graded sold for $1,925.00 after 35 bids by seller “worm300.”
This is not a rookie card at all, but on October 17, 2021 a 2018 Topps Chrome Max Scherzer Sapphire Superfractor 1/1 #629 sold for $810.01 after 45 bids.
On September 30, 2021, a 2008 Bowman Chrome Max Scherzer x-fractor /199 Rookie Card graded BGS 9.5 Gem Mint+ sold for
$1,499.99.
On September 16, 2021, a lot of (2) 2008 Topps Update Max Scherzer Rookie cards (UH280) graded as PSA 10 Gem Mint cards had a Buy It Now (or Best Offer) price of $1,995 and eBay does show that the sold was marked as sold under “Best Offer Accepted.” The question is what that price really was. An identical PSA 10 example of this card sold for $800.00 after bids on September 26, 2021.
On September 14, 2021 a 2008 Topps Update Highlights #UH280 Max Scherzer RC Rookie Gem Mint PSA 10 sold for $819.05 after 57 bids.
Scherzer’s career is already more than impressive and some of his numbers are improving even as he ages. His 11 starts for the Dodgers after mid-year in 2021 were followed by 7 wins and 0 losses. His career record is 190 wins versus 97 losses for a .662 W/L rate. His career ERA is 3.16, but it has actually only been above 3.0 once since 2014. And Scherzer’s current 3,020 career strikeouts is higher than any active player in baseball.
Is Max Scherzer the next Nolan Ryan? He has 14 years in the league at age 37. Ryan stopped at 46 and had 27 years under his belt when he retired. His stats were 324 wins and 292 losses (.526) and he had 5,714 career strikeouts. Ryan has a MLB career-high of 7 no-hitters.
Now collectors and sports card investors will just have to wait and see if the $43.3 million average annual value makes Max Scherzer the second or third most collected current pitcher in baseball or not. Shohei Ohtani remains the king of current pitchers in collectibles, but there are more than a handful of other players who are landing huge contracts who are also chased up by collectors.
