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The Mets’ tear-down is underway, with the team trading veteran ace Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers in a blockbuster move Saturday, the Daily News confirmed.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner agreed to waive his no-trade clause to push the deal through. The Mets get back minor-league middle infielder Luisangel Acuna, who is the 21-year-old brother of Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. and one of the Rangers’ top prospects.
Scherzer, 39, is in the second season of a three-year, $130 million contract. The final year of the deal was a player option worth $43.3 million that Scherzer picked up as part of the trade.
The news left first baseman Pete Alonso “shocked,” he said following the Mets’ 11-6 loss to the Nationals on Saturday.
“Max wasn’t around the clubhouse and I didn’t really see him around today, so that’s when I knew it was like, ‘Oh man, this is legit. This isn’t just, like, clickbait.’ … It’s a loss for us for sure,” Alonso said.
Scherzer wasn’t in the clubhouse during the post-game media availability, and general manager Billy Eppler has not addressed reporters. Mets manager Buck Showalter said a trade had not been completed but acknowledged the team was aware of the situation.
“Everybody’s got a cell phone,” Showalter said after Saturday’s game. “Everybody’s got a computer screen. Everybody’s talking. There’s no secrets, so they know. … But nothing had transpired. I’m not gonna sit here and insult your intelligence. I know a lot more than I’m sitting here talking about, but it’s just not a good thing to do — I don’t want to say ethically — but it’s just not good business yet. When things like that do happen, I’ll assume the position and take every question you wanna ask.”
The trade came a day after Scherzer said he wanted to speak with the Mets’ front office about its intentions before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. The Mets traded closer David Robertson to the Marlins on Thursday.
“Probably got to have a conversation with the front office,” Scherzer said Friday after holding the Nationals to one run over seven innings in a win. “I mean, you’re trading our closer away. I’m sure a bunch of people are gonna have to have conversations with the front office.”
Scherzer is 9-4 this season but has pitched to a 4.01 ERA, his worst mark in more than a decade. Texas, which leads the AL West by a game over Houston, hopes Scherzer can bolster a rotation that’s missing former Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who recently underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow after signing a five-year contract in the offseason.
The Rangers’ pitching coach is Mike Maddux, who held the same role with the Nationals in 2016 and 2017, when Scherzer won back-to-back Cy Young Awards there.
“Beyond excited to reunite with old baseball friends and meet new ones but absolutely crushed saying goodbye to current ones,” the pitcher’s wife, Erica Scherzer, tweeted Saturday. “What a day.”
The Nationals traded Scherzer to the Dodgers before the 2021 trade deadline. On Friday, Scherzer said that situation was different than this year’s with the Mets, who are in fourth place in the NL East and outside of the playoff picture despite the highest payroll in MLB history.
“When I was in Washington, I was going to be a free agent,” Scherzer said Friday. “Our season was going south and I wanted to get traded to a playoff contender. That was the calculus with me with the Nationals. This time around, I’m not going to be a free agent. I have another year here. We did great things last year. We won 101 ballgames last year. Unfortunately, this year it’s not.”
Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor both said they got a chance to say goodbye to Scherzer before Saturday’s game.
“Thankful that I got that, because him and I have developed a good relationship over these last couple years,” Nimmo said. “He was a great teammate and a great leader, and I will miss him.”
Co-ace Justin Verlander, who signed a two-year, $86.6 million deal with the Mets in the offseason, has also been the subject of trade rumors.
Lindor, who is under contract through 2031, said Eppler assured him the team is not looking to undergo a full rebuild but that the trades made sense from a “business point of view.” Nimmo said he also expects to have a conversation with Eppler and Mets owner Steve Cohen about the team’s vision for future.
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