General Manager Billy Eppler said that just the fact that veteran star Max Scherzer was dealt to the Texas Rangers prior to the MLB deadline to trade him, that didn’t mean the team was not in the process of rebuilding.
It’s true, Scherzer seems to think that way.
Shocking Revelation: Max Scherzer Spills Mets’ 2025-2026 Rebuilding Plan!
“I talked to Billy,” Scherzer told The Athletic. “”I thought, “OK is it possible to reload for 2024?’ replies, ‘No there’s no way to do that. Our vision is 2025-2026. It’s which is ’25, but perhaps 26. We’ll be making deals around this.'”
But, it’s not just about trades. Scherzer declared that the Mets aren’t planning on taking on any of the best free agents in the offseason, either.
“I thought”So, the team’s not planning to sign free-agents this offseason or build a team that could compete in the World Series next year?’ He replied that ‘No, we’re not planning to sign the top players. The team will be working on the lower end of deals in the free-agent market. The year 24 is expected to be an ‘intermittent year”” Scherzer explained.
Scherzer stated that Eppler further explained that before this year’s MLB trading deadlines, players who were qualified for free agency following the 2024 season also were in the market for trade as were players similar to Eppler who were on the market in the aftermath of this season.
The result was Justin Verlander to getting dealt in The Houston Astros, where he took home the American League Cy Young and the World Series last year. Verlander has just joined the Mets during the offseason this past year to be part of a dazzling team in Queens however, was not able to finish his whole two-year $86.67 million contract with the option to buy out 2025 players.
In the end, the Mets offered his services in exchange for their Astros in hopes of advancing the future. Houston was offered their No. one player Drew Gilbert and their No. 4 in Ryan Clifford.
Scherzer’s trade with the Rangers resulted in the Rangers Ronald Acuna Jr.’s younger brother, Luisangel Acuna, their best prospect. Luisangel Acuna quickly ranks at the 2nd spot in the Mets current system as Gilbert gets to the No. 4 and Clifford to No. 6.
The Athletic said that Scherzer’s meeting with Eppler occurred on Friday. He told journalists he wanted to know more regarding the Mets their direction following David Robertson, a veteran reliever who was traded on Thursday.
However, while Scherzer could understand Eppler’s argument about being open to offers regarding free agents 2023 as the Mets boast a record of 50-55 at the start of the season and are 17.5 games off their NL East lead – but Scherzer wanted to know about the plan from the team’s CEO, Steve Cohen.
Cohen is adamant about increasing the quality of players within Flushing after he assumed the role as majority owner. the addition of Scherzer is one of the decisions prior to 2022’s season, which was an important factor in the 101 regular-season victories that followed last season.
Scherzer stated to The Athletic that Cohen gave the coach “exactly the same thing, kind of verbatim” in reference to the things Eppler stated about the Mets and their plans for the future.
This was the reason Scherzer with an entire no-trade provision within his agreement, was able to agree to sell his contract to the Rangers who held that AL West lead entering Tuesday.
“If they had said, ‘We’re going to hold on to all the ’24 pieces,’ that would have been a different story,” Scherzer added. “But they were saying ‘no, we’re going to be moving players that are under contract for 2024 before the deadline.'”
“We went through a few people I was thinking of whom I thought would make a good choice. The reality was that it was more comprehensive than this. We talked about that were free agents after the 24th of July They were bigger names. Every player that was free after 2024 and at the appropriate cost could move in the near future, before the time of deadline.
“That’s a completely different vision from what everybody had in the clubhouse. All the players had a vision of, we reload for 2024. That was no longer the case.”
What does this could mean for what this could mean for the Mets in the future? Are they able to let Shohei Ohtani remain off the table despite the fact that many believed Cohen will be adamant in hiring the star player this free-agent period? How about Pete Alonso, one of players of the franchise which is scheduled to enter release after the 2024 season?