QUEENS — Justin Verlander seems to be a bit more open to being traded away from the New York Mets before Major League Baseball’s Aug. 1 deadline after the team dealt Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
“A bit surprised with that one,” Verlander said after notching his 250th career win on Sunday afternoon. “To see some of the comments that he made [about waiving his no-trade clause after speaking with team brass] and you wonder, what happened? Because obviously it came together really quickly and I was a bit surprised to see it go down.”
Just five days earlier, Verlander — who signed a two-year deal with the Mets — stood at his locker room inside Yankee Stadium after shutting down the Yankees and said that he was “focused on being a Met. That’s why I signed here. I want to win here. It hasn’t gone according to plan just yet, but I didn’t sign a one-year deal. So there’s that.”
Since then, though, owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler have not only sent Scherzer down to Texas, but shipped veteran reliever David Robertson to the Miami Marlins. Both deals yielded prospects for an organization committed to building up its far system.
“When you see that happen, you can’t help but think what’s in store for next year,” Verlander said on Sunday. “We play this game to win and to win a championship… So it changed my opinion a little bit. It was tough to see.”
The 40-year-old future Hall-of-Famer suggested that he will make a decision about waiving his no-trade clause once he gets a clear message from what the Mets are looking to do in 2024.
“I’m leaving it fate’s hands,” he began. “We’ll see what happens. I have a no-trade clause so I have some ability to control my destiny. I’m the type of person that likes to gather information. I have no idea who’s interested, what’s going on, who [Eppler] has been speaking with… Just an open communication with the front office and see what their plans are for me, for the organization… It largely depends on how the organization views next year.
“I think Max is a tough sign if we’re trying to go back at it… I’m committed to trying to win a championship here but if the organization decides that’s not exactly the direction that they think is best fit to go for next year, then yeah, I would be more open to it.”
Eppler himself said earlier on Sunday that the Mets are still taking calls, but their price point is high, meaning that they would likely want a similar haul to what they got back in the Scherzer deal — Texas Rangers No. 3 prospect Luisangel Acuna.
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