NEW YORK — For the last month, Max Scherzer has deflected all trade speculation, considering it irrelevant before the Mets made the decision to sell.
One night after New York traded closer David Robertson, Scherzer said he has to have a conversation with “Mets brass” about “what the direction of this organization is going to be.”
“You have to talk to the brass. You have to understand what they’re going to do,” Scherzer said. “I told you, I wasn’t going to comment on this until Steve (Cohen) was going to sell. We traded Robertson, now I need to have a conversation. I haven’t had that conversation yet. I will.”
Scherzer contrasted the current situation with what he faced in 2021, when he was dealt at the deadline from the Nationals to the Dodgers, waiving his no-trade clause in the process.
“When I was with Washington, I was about to be a free agent. Our season was going south. I wanted to get traded to a playoff contender,” he said. “This time around, I’m not going to be a free agent. I have another year here. I came here. We did great things last year. We won 100 ballgames last year. Unfortunately this year it’s not. But with Steve and the rest of this organization, you can see a path forward, you can see a path to next year. So, that’s where the calculus is different.”
The other thing that’s different in the calculus is Scherzer’s trade value. In 2021, he was pitching as one of the game’s elite aces, and an inquiring team didn’t have to take on as much of a financial commitment in a deal. Even after seven terrific innings on Friday night, Scherzer’s ERA on the season is 4.01, and he has struggled to stack quality starts together.
He’s also owed $43.3 million next season, unless he opts out of the contract this winter — very unlikely given his performance and his own comment Friday that he has another year on his contract.
In any deal involving Scherzer, the Mets are likely to have to take on a significant portion of the money remaining on his contract. Scherzer has a no-trade clause, as well.
Scherzer’s remarks Friday came when asked about Thursday’s trade of Robertson to the Marlins.
“We put ourselves in this position,” he said. “We haven’t played well enough as a team. I’ve had a hand in that for why we’re in the position we’re at. Can’t get mad at anybody but yourself.”
Was he surprised by the trade of New York’s best reliever?
“I mean, look where we’re at in the standings. Our record is our record,” Scherzer said. “I would say the front office has decisions to make, Steve has decisions to make, and we’ve got to understand what the direction of this organization is going to be.”
Does this mean Scherzer wants out?
It means he wants reassurance, at the very least. As he said, the trade of Robertson on Thursday wasn’t out of left field; owner Cohen said last month that the team would sell at the deadline barring a turnaround, and a turnaround had never come.
Robertson was an impending free agent, so it made total sense for the Mets to move him.
Scherzer isn’t used to playing out the string. The last team — the only team — he played a full 162-game season for that had a losing record was the 2009 Diamondbacks, in his rookie season. So if he’s not going to be part of a pennant race this autumn, he wants to know the Mets have a vision for rebounding in 2024.
