The Mets’ tear-down is underway, with the crew agreeing to trade veteran ace Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers in a deal nonetheless pending his approval, the Daily News can verify.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner must waive his no-trade clause for the transfer to undergo.
Scherzer, 39, is within the second season of a three-year, $130 million contract. The remaining 12 months of the deal is a participant choice value $43.3 million.
The right-hander is 9-4 this season however has pitched to a 4.01 ERA, his worst mark in additional than a decade.
The settlement between the Mets and the Rangers got here a day after Scherzer mentioned he wished to talk with the Mets’ entrance workplace about its intentions earlier than the Aug. 1 commerce deadline. The Mets traded nearer David Robertson to the Marlins on Thursday.
“Probably got to have a conversation with the front office,” Scherzer mentioned Friday after holding the Nationals to 1 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 would assist bolster a Rangers rotation that’s lacking former Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who lately underwent Tommy John surgical procedure on his proper elbow after signing a five-year contract with Texas within the offseason.
The Rangers presently lead the AL West. Their pitching coach is Mike Maddux, who held the identical position with the Nationals in 2016 and 2017, when Scherzer gained back-to-back Cy Young Awards there.
The Nationals traded Scherzer to the Dodgers earlier than the 2021 commerce deadline. Scherzer mentioned that state of affairs was totally different than this 12 months’s with the Mets, who’re in fourth place within the NL East and out of doors of the playoff image regardless of the most important payroll in MLB historical past.
“When I was in Washington, I was going to be a free agent,” Scherzer mentioned 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.”
About an hour earlier than information of the commerce emerged, Mets supervisor Buck Showalter mentioned he didn’t have a problem with Scherzer’s feedback.
“I’m sure that’s how he feels,” Showalter mentioned Saturday. “Max has made it very clear why he gets up in the morning. He wants it to be here. That’s the way he’s always felt. He likes it here.”
Co-ace Justin Verlander, who signed a two-year, $86.6 million cope with the Mets within the offseason, has additionally been the topic of commerce rumors.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com