Andrew Buller-Russ
When you have the biggest payroll in baseball, expectations are sky-high. Unfortunately, Max Scherzer and the New York Mets haven’t been able to live up to their World Series aspirations. By the looks of it, they may not even make the playoffs.
Fading fast ahead of the August 1 MLB trade deadline, we’ve already seen the Mets become sellers by trading away All-Star closer David Robertson, and now one of the team’s cornerstones isn’t happy.
Following Friday night’s win over the Washington Nationals, three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer voiced his displeasure with the organization’s current direction while also accepting part of the blame for the team’s struggles.
“Disappointed. I mean, obviously, we put ourselves in this position. We haven’t played well enough as a team. I’ve had a hand in that for why we’re in the position that we’re at. Can’t get mad at anybody but yourself, but it stinks.”
Max Scherzer on the state of the New York Mets
Of course he’s disappointed. Everyone wants to be buyers at the trade deadline, helping make a push for the playoffs. Obviously, Scherzer wouldn’t have signed a three-year, $130 million contract in the Big Apple if he knew this would be the result. But the 39-year-old pitcher also realizes he’s had better years too, and is willing to shoulder part of the burden.
Still, that didn’t prevent him from saying he’d like to have a real conversation with the people upstairs cutting the checks.
“You have to talk to the brass. You have to understand what they see, what they’re going to do. That’s the best I can tell you. I told you I wasn’t going to comment on this until Steve (Cohen) was going to sell. We traded Robertson. Now we need to have a conversation.”
It’s clear Scherzer is upset, but he doesn’t have all the answers. With Scherzer holding a $43.3 million player option for next season, he’s going to want a reasonable explanation sooner than later.
Related: MLB trade tracker: MLB trades today with grades and analysis
