The Mets’ tear-down is underway, with the workforce trading veteran ace Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers in a blockbuster transfer Saturday, the Daily News confirmed.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner agreed to waive his no-trade clause to push the deal via. The Mets get again minor-league center infielder Luisangel Acuna, who’s the 21-year-old brother of Braves celebrity Ronald Acuna Jr. and one of many Rangers’ prime prospects.
Scherzer, 39, is within the second season of a three-year, $130 million contract. The last 12 months of the deal was a participant choice price $43.3 million that Scherzer picked up as a part of the commerce.
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 commerce got here a day after Scherzer mentioned he needed 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 at least 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.”
Texas hopes Scherzer can bolster a rotation that’s lacking former Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who just lately underwent Tommy John surgical procedure on his proper elbow after signing a five-year contract with the Rangers within the offseason.
The Rangers 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.
“Beyond excited to reunite with old baseball friends and meet new ones but absolutely crushed saying goodbye to current ones,” the pitcher’s spouse, Erica Scherzer, tweeted Saturday. “What a day.”
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 best 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 talks 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