We’ve gotten used to the Mets going on spending sprees to supplement the roster. But the past few days have been the complete opposite. While we could’ve assumed it was coming after the David Robertson trade, it was glaringly apparent when New York sent Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers.
The veteran right-hander twirled seven solid innings against the Washington Nationals on Friday night. Following that appearance, Scherzer didn’t seem super satisfied, mostly saying he wanted answers about the organization’s direction. He got those answers quickly. It didn’t take long for him to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate the deal with Texas.
In a recent article on The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal gave us the kind of details about those conversations many of us likely didn’t expect to hear so quickly. Here’s the juiciest part of it all:
I talked to Billy,” Scherzer told The Athletic. “I was like, ‘OK, are we reloading for 2024?’ He goes, ‘No, we’re not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, ‘25 at the earliest, more like ‘26. We’re going to be making trades around that.’
“I was like, ‘So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?’ He said, ‘No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. ‘24 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.’”
Scherzer also said he wasn’t looking for a way out of New York. He would’ve probably stayed if the Mets were looking to reload for 2024. But clearly, the above statements show the organization is working toward a new goal.
If there’s one thing we can say about this Mets regime, it’s that they don’t do anything halfway. When they decided to go all in over the winter, they went all in. And when they finally confessed that this wasn’t going to work, they fully committed to going in the complete opposite direction.
We’ll see how it all plays out, and how much of a “transitory year” the 2024 season will be for New York. At least we’ll finally get to see the kids play consistently, right? Maybe. And I guess we’ll see if Buck Showalter gets a chance to finish out his contract next year, too.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
