Max Scherzer trade doesn’t mean Mets are rebuilding, GM Billy Eppler says

Trading ace Max Scherzer doesn’t mean the Mets are preparing to undergo a full-blown rebuild, general manager Billy Eppler insisted Sunday.

Eppler said the front office isn’t punting on the 2024 season and expects to field a competitive roster, despite sending Scherzer to the Texas Rangers with another year left on his contract.

“We took this opportunity to serve another goal of the organization, which is to enhance the farm system,” Eppler said Sunday after the trade became official. “But I do want to be clear: It’s not a rebuild. It’s not a fire sale. It’s not a liquidation. This is just a repurposing of [owner Steve Cohen’s] investment in the club, and kind of shifting that investment from the team into the organization.”

In trading Scherzer, the Mets received minor-league infielder Luisangel Acuna, the 21-year-old brother of Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. and one of the Rangers’ top prospects. The Mets also traded closer David Robertson to the Marlins last week for a pair of teenage prospects.

The Mets will continue to listen to offers for players on their roster, according to Eppler, who said his prices are high. He considers trading Schezer, 39, a “strategic decision” based on the team’s low odds of making the playoffs.

“We used this opportunity to bring a player into the organization that we’re extremely excited about, that’s close to the big leagues, talent that you can’t access,” Eppler said of Acuna, who has advanced to Double-A. “Generally with clubs that are going to go through a rebuild, you have to endure five, six, seven years of losing, and we don’t have the appetite for that. We’re not gonna do that. What we want to do is use Steve’s investment and enhance this farm system and get us to our larger goal.”

Coming off a 101-win season, the Mets entered the 2023 campaign with the biggest payroll in MLB history. The team failed to live up to its sky-high expectations, entering Sunday with a 49-55 record and seven games out of the third-and-final National League Wild Card spot.

Scherzer is in the second season of a three-year, $130 million contract. He waived his no-trade clause and picked up next year’s $43.3 million player option as part of the trade to the AL West-leading Rangers, who hope the three-time Cy Young Award winner can bolster a rotation that lost ace Jacob deGrom to elbow surgery.

The move came a day after Scherzer said he wanted to speak with the Mets’ front office about its intentions ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline. Eppler said he was already talking to other teams about the right-hander at that point but didn’t get into specifics with Scherzer until Saturday afternoon.

The trade stunned members of the Mets clubhouse, including Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo.

“Honestly, shocked,” Alonso said after Saturday’s game. “Max wasn’t around the clubhouse and I didn’t really see him around today, so that’s when I knew it was like, ‘Oh man, this is legit. This isn’t just, like, clickbait.’ … It’s a loss for us for sure.”

Eppler believes Las Vegas’ preseason odds for the Mets in 2024 will be lower than the past two seasons. His goal is to build a top-flight farm system, he said, but acknowledged the team will need to remain active in free agency.

“Free agency is not the market that we want to rely on to build a championship team,” Eppler said. “It’s a market that we want to use to enhance the team that we have, but we would rather go to that market for opportunities than necessity. We’re not there yet.”

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from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/1S5qRUd