Max Scherzer did not think he would be traded. He was not, in his words, “itching to jump ship.” But he said he agreed to waive his no-trade clause when
Mets owner Steve Cohen and
general manager Billy Eppler informed him the team was taking a step back next season and building more for the future.
“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.’”
After Eppler informed him of the club’s plan, Scherzer said he told the GM,
“I’ve got to hear this from Steve. This is a change in organizational direction.” Cohen, Scherzer said, told him, “exactly the same thing, kind of verbatim.”