Justin Verlander sounds like a goner, too, and Mets should keep selling
Mets starting pitcher Justin Verlander (L) and general manager Billy Eppler on Sunday, June 30, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets finally ripped the Band-Aid off on Saturday night with the trade of Max Scherzer to the Rangers. They did the hardest part.
If David Robertson was the canary in the coal mine, as shipping him to the Marlins on Thursday effectively killed any pretense of a playoff push, the Scherzer deal took things a step further, signaling a philosophical shift in the Mets’ operations.
Our advice to general manager Billy Eppler: Don’t stop now. Keep selling.
Even Justin Verlander, fresh off win No. 250 in Sunday’s 5-2 victory over the Nationals, sounded ready to volunteer to be the next Met out the Citi Field door. When asked numerous times, Verlander seemed very, very receptive to waiving his no-trade clause based on the previous 48 hours.
“I think Max is a tough sign,” Verlander said. “I’m committed to trying to win a championship here. But if the organization decides that’s not exactly the direction they think is the best fit to go for next year and go for it again, then yeah, I’d be more open to it.”
A few hours earlier, Eppler took the unusual step of tempering expectations for 2024 in the wake of the Robertson and Scherzer deals. He said the Mets likely will be more conservative in free agency in the offseason, thereby causing a probable dip in their Vegas championship odds (his example, not mine) of the previous seasons.
Processing those two separate conversations, Verlander sounds like a goner.
“Right now, there’s a lot of gray area,” he said. “And I can’t make a decision with a lot of what-ifs. I deal in facts, and when I can gather the most information and make an educated decision, that’s how I like to proceed.”
As for the Mets, here are the facts: The Tiffany free-agency bridge not only didn’t work, it collapsed in spectacular fashion by creating the most expensive failure ($377 million) in baseball history.
I don’t blame owner Steve Cohen for that. The Mets’ greatest competitive advantage is Cohen’s $17 billion fortune, so naturally he tried writing big checks as a shortcut to the World Series.
Cohen hoped to deliver a title in short order, but these Mets couldn’t capitalize on last year’s 101-win season and instead took a giant leap backward at a staggering price tag. Maybe Cohen the hedge-fund titan is still relatively new at this baseball thing, but he’s no dummy when it comes to finances, and listening to Eppler’s post-mortem on the Scherzer deal suggested his boss is done throwing good money after bad, now and in the future.
Eppler explained that the Robertson and Scherzer deals were a “re-purposing” of Cohen’s hefty investment from this year’s underperforming roster to the thirsty minor-league ranks below. Bringing in a pair of teenagers from the Marlins for Robertson and acquiring Luisangel Acuna — the Rangers’ No. 3 prospect and the younger brother of Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta’s MVP favorite — is a solid start.
But it isn’t far enough. The obvious next step is trading Verlander, followed by whatever Eppler can get for Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley.
If Eppler is truly serious about this “re-purposing” effort, then this is no time for half-measures, especially in a seller’s market, with 12 teams trying to maintain their hold on playoff spots and six more within five games of a wild-card berth.
There’s no shame now in the Mets conceding that their attempt to buy a World Series was a humbling disaster. As Cohen said weeks ago, that money already is spent. But the Mets also can’t sugarcoat their situation, and Eppler needn’t put labels on what the Mets are working toward for 2024.
Aside from the fact that Cohen almost certainly will hire a new president of baseball operations in the offseason — likely David Stearns, whose Brewers contract expires this fall — the Mets’ current downturn represents a unique opportunity to focus on the barren farm system. They shouldn’t lose sight of those goals.
Before Eppler even took questions Sunday, his opening statement sounded more like a sales pitch to season-ticket holders than a deadline stance. It’s way too early for that. And frankly, with this year flushed, no one really cares what you choose to call what’s happening right now.
“I do want to be clear that it’s not a rebuild,” Eppler said. “It’s not a fire sale. It’s not a liquidation.”
As of Sunday afternoon, the Mets hadn’t done anything yet to truly hurt their chances for 2024. Robertson will be a free agent and they presumably have Edwin Diaz returning as the closer anyway. While Scherzer is a future Hall of Famer and a good clubhouse presence with a burning desire to win, he also had a 4.01 ERA, teed up 23 homers in 107 2⁄3 innings and turned 39 last week.
The Mets’ championship window figured to be 2023-24, the two seasons that Scherzer and Verlander overlapped. But now that one $43 million co-ace is gone, it’s time for the other to follow and for the Mets to devise a new blueprint. After this humiliating season, that would be a refreshing change.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
