Rangers' Max Scherzer again addresses being traded by Mets

Right-hander Max Scherzer will take the bump for the Texas Rangers against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night.

Scherzer once again addressed being traded by the New York Mets this past summer before Monday's matchup. 

"It was just a decision that had to be made," Scherzer said about the trade while speaking with Mike Puma of the New York Post. "I don’t want to say ‘happy’ because that makes it seem like I was trying to get out of New York. I was just at the point in my career where I had to make a decision about winning. If winning is your North Star, you can make decisions around that. The decision got made." 

Scherzer signed a three-year, $130M contract with the Mets shortly after the 2021 season and waived his no-trade clause to join the Rangers after he apparently was told by then-New York general manager Billy Eppler that the Amazins were viewing 2024 as "a kind of transitory year" amid the club's woeful 2023 campaign. Scherzer later poured cold water over rumors about the Mets allegedly having clubhouse problems throughout the year, and he elaborated on why he accepted the move to the Rangers during his chat with Puma. 

"I got put in a box to make the choice, I had to make a decision," Scherzer said when asked if he thinks the Mets will try to win next year. "If they do [compete], great — I have no animosity toward the organization or anybody there. It’s just I got put in a corner where if I don’t accept this trade then we are going to be trading other guys across the roster. 'If you are not going to let us trade you then we are going to move other people.' At that point, I had to make a baseball decision."

For a piece published on Oct. 12, MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Mets are "aiming to compete in 2024" with new president of baseball operations David Stearns running the front office. Stearns only officially accepted the job following the end of the regular season, and one wonders if he'll wish next spring he had Scherzer as part of a rotation that's lacking arms heading into the start of free agency.