After a rough outing in Boston nine days before the Major League Baseball trade deadline, Max Scherzer wouldn’t even entertain the idea of being traded by the Mets.
Six days after those remarks, in which Scherzer expressed a commitment to trying to win in New York, the three-time Cy Young Award winner was moved to a new team.
The Mets officially traded Scherzer to the Rangers two days before the deadline. The superstar right-hander had a say in the matter, as Scherzer reportedly has a no-trade clause in his contract and thus needed to sign off on the move to Texas.
Speaking with the media Tuesday, the 39-year-old explained why the blockbuster trade earned his seal of approval.
Story continues below advertisement
“(Billy Eppler’s) answer was that the team is now kind of shifting vision and that they’re looking to compete now for 2025 and 2026, and that 2024, that it was not going to be a reload situation in New York, and that it was going to be more of a transition in 2024,” Scherzer told reporters, per The Associated Press.
The expectation for transition next year seemingly factored into New York’s other high-profile transaction before the deadline. The Mets on Tuesday traded Justin Verlander, another elite starter with a no-trade clause in his contract, to the Houston Astros.
Scherzer is slated to make his Rangers debut Thursday when Texas wraps up a series with the Chicago White Sox at Globe Life Field.
Featured image via Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports Images
