In return to Citi Field, Max Scherzer says he enjoyed time with Mets, didn't expect a trade
Max Scherzer #31 of the Texas Rangers looks on from the dugout during a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
In what was supposed to be Jacob deGrom’s return to Citi Field, another erstwhile Mets ace made his way across the ballpark for the obligatory hugs and hellos, sat in the visitors’ dugout before batting practice and discussed his Queens tenure, sudden departure and what could have been.
Max Scherzer still does not know what went wrong with these Mets, he said Monday. And although he insisted that he enjoyed all that came with being here — playing under Buck Showalter, hanging with this group of teammates, living on Long Island — he reiterated that his breakup with the organization a month ago was for the best.
“I don’t have time to wait around,” Scherzer said. “But I get what they’re doing with this organization. They have the right thought process behind it. And Steve [Cohen] is a great owner, trying to make this a winner here in New York.
“I’m definitely happy to have joined it, happy to have contributed to it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be here for the great moments of it. But they’re doing the right things to be able to build a championship ballclub in the future. Those are decisions that had to be made. When I had conversations with them, they were honest. And that allowed me to make an honest decision as well.”
Scherzer spoke before the Mets’ series opener against the Texas Rangers, who acquired the 39-year-old righthander for infield prospect Luisangel Acuna in the lead-up to the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Before the game, the Mets honored Scherzer with a brief highlight video. He was lightly booed by a sparse crowd.
Not merely a white flag from Mets decision-makers on this season, that deal marked a paradigm shift, a total reversal in their thinking, a reset that has them focused on 2025 and beyond.
That saga began to play out publicly late on July 28 after Scherzer’s sharp start against the Nationals. He needed to “talk to the brass,” he said then, about their direction for the club.
“I couldn’t share everything that was going on,” he said Monday. “I was getting text messages from other guys across the league asking me, hey, are you going to waive your no-trade clause? I couldn’t come out in the media and say that. That’s why I said I need to talk to the brass. What is going on that I was hearing from multiple guys across multiple teams [about] am I going to waive my no-trade clause?
“I didn’t think I was going to get traded. I knew something was going on, something was up. And so that’s why I had to get to the bottom of this.”
Scherzer got to the bottom of it the next day via conversations with Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler. They told him, according to Scherzer, that they were open to moving players under contract through 2024 — not just those under contract through 2023. That included him.
His thinking: If the Mets weren’t all in to try to win the World Series in ’24, then he was more than comfortable leaving.
“The consensus in the clubhouse at that time was, you understood if the team was going to sell off the ’23 free agents and reload for 2024,” he said. “That’s when it became apparent that that was not the direction.”
Showalter said, speaking of Scherzer generally: “Very blunt and honest, which made it refreshing to not have to tiptoe around a subject matter. You can get right to the core of it.”
The Mets agreed to the trade, ending Scherzer’s time with the team about halfway through the three-year, $130 million contract he signed in 2021.
With all of several weeks of hindsight, Scherzer laughed at the idea that a toxic clubhouse contributed to the Mets’ failures this year, saying: “We actually had a great clubhouse. We had great veterans in the clubhouse, everybody included. That’s definitely not the reason why we lost.”
Scherzer now is part of a three-way AL West race with the Mariners and Astros, who reacquired Justin Verlander from the Mets in a deadline deal. Of his relationship with Verlander, with whom he did not get along when they were Tigers teammates last decade, Scherzer said: “Ver and I are actually on a better page now than when we started the season. We’re much better off than we’ve ever been.” He declined to elaborate.
Scherzer has a 2.64 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in five starts with his newest team; he was at 4.01 and 1.19 in 19 starts with the Mets.
In a way, he is a replacement for deGrom, whose season ended with Tommy John surgery in June. DeGrom’s rehab is based out of Arlington, Texas, so he is not with the Rangers in New York. He left the Mets for a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers in December.
Scherzer won’t pitch in this series; his spot in the rotation is not due up until Friday. That leaves him with a little more time to wonder about what went wrong.
“It was just a combination of everything, of things just not going right,” Scherzer said. “Everybody can look at themselves in the mirror and say they could have done better. I know specifically myself, this year, I wish I would have pitched better. I don’t like to point fingers unless I’m pointing fingers at myself, and I definitely can point the finger at myself. That’s what leaves everyone with a dumbfounded feeling.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
