6:02 PM UTC
The Rangers have acquired three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and cash considerations from the Mets in exchange for prospect Luisangel Acuña, the club announced Sunday.
Acuña, the Rangers’ No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline (No. 44 overall), is the younger brother of Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr.
The 39-year-old Scherzer, who waived his no-trade clause, is in the final guaranteed year of a two-year, $86.67 million deal. He had a 2024 player option for $43.33 million, but a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that the right-hander has exercised that option. Earlier on Saturday, reports suggested the option had been a sticking point as the deal neared completion.
The Mets are paying all but $22.5 million of the salary as a part of the deal, a source told Feinsand, meaning New York will cover a total of $35 million through the end of 2024.
TRADE DETAILS
Rangers get: RHP Max Scherzer, cash
Mets get: INF prospect Luisangel Acuña
“We are thrilled to add a pitcher of Max’s caliber and experience to our staff,” said Rangers executive vice president and general manager Chris Young. “Max is a fierce competitor and a proven winner, and we can’t wait to get him in a Rangers uniform.”
The Rangers are essentially replacing one former Mets ace with another, as Jacob deGrom, the $185 million prize of Texas’ active offseason, underwent season-ending elbow surgery in June.
Scherzer had one of his best starts of the season on Friday night, holding the Nats to one run over seven innings with seven strikeouts, but the likely Hall of Famer has been uneven for most of the year, posting a 4.01 ERA with 121 strikeouts over 107 2/3 innings. He has been especially susceptible to the long ball, allowing a career-high 1.9 home runs per nine innings.
Even with the uncharacteristic struggles for Scherzer, he is an upgrade in the Rangers rotation.
Nathan Eovaldi has thrived in deGrom’s absence with a 2.69 ERA in 19 starts this season, but he landed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday with a right forearm strain. Dane Dunning (3.28 ERA) and Jon Gray (3.66) have been serviceable behind him, but both Andrew Heaney and Martín Pérez have ERAs well over 4.50 at the back end of the rotation.
The rotation has a 3.86 ERA on the season, good for fifth in MLB, but the group has struggled to a 4.56 ERA since June 1.
In Scherzer, the Rangers are acquiring one of the greatest pitchers in Major League history, a famously fierce competitor with extensive October experience. He owns a 3.58 ERA with 164 strikeouts over 133 1/3 innings in the postseason, including posting a 2.40 ERA in the 2019 playoffs when he helped lead the Nats to a World Series title.
The eight-time All-Star has thrown two no-hitters and ranks 12th on the all-time strikeouts list with 3,314 punchouts over his 16-year career. He is one of six players to win Cy Youngs in both leagues (with the Tigers in 2013 and the Nats in 2016 and ’17). Scherzer’s pitching coach for both of those Cy Young seasons in Washington was current Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux.
Scherzer made headlines after Friday’s game when he told reporters he wanted to “have a conversation with the front office” about the direction the Mets were taking following Thursday’s trade of closer David Robertson to the Marlins for a pair of prospects.
Texas entered Sunday in first place in the AL West, one game above the Astros, as the club attempts to reach the postseason for the first time since 2016, while the Mets sit at 49-55, seven games out of the final NL Wild Card spot.
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