*Photo from Yahoo Sports*
We have our first blockbuster move of the trade deadline season. The Texas Rangers have acquired RHP Max Scherzer and cash considerations from the New York Mets in exchange for SS Luisangel Acuna, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The trade has been confirmed.
The trade needed Scherzer to waive his no trade clause to happen, which Scherzer has done. The Mets are paying all but $22.5 million remaining in Scherzer's deal, making the Mets responsible for $35 million over the remainder of the deal which runs through 2024. Scherzer also officially exercised his player option for 2024, locking him in with the Rangers for the rest of his contract.
By trading for Scherzer, he appears to be a replacement for Jacob deGrom, who the Rangers pried away from the Mets in the offseason. deGrom underwent Tommy John Surgery and will likely be out for most, if not all of 2024.
News of the trade comes after Scherzer voiced his displeasure with the Mets trading reliever David Robertson to the Miami Marlins, with Scherzer speaking after Friday's game. However, trade talks had been taking place before that incident, so the two appear to be unrelated.
Scherzer is enduring a tough season, as is the case with the Mets as a whole. Scherzer has a 4.01 ERA, 4.73 FIP, and 1.189 WHIP over 107 2/3 innings and 19 starts. He does still miss bats well, ranking 8th among NL starting pitchers with 10.1 strikeouts per 9 innings. He has a 4.03 strikeout to walk ratio.
Scherzer will also be reuniting with current Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, who was the pitching coach in Washington in each of Scherzer's two NL Cy Young seasons. His 3,314 strikeouts place him in 12th in the all time strikeouts list. He is also one of 6 pitchers to win a Cy Young in both the NL and AL, having won the AL Cy Young in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers.
In Acuna, the Mets receive the 3rd ranked Rangers prospect and 44th overall in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He is the brother of Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr and was signed by the Rangers in 2018 as an international free agent in Venezuela.
Added to the Rangers 40 man roster in the offseason, Acuna is enjoying a standout season at Double A Frisco thus far. He has a .315 batting average, .377 on base percentage, and .453 slugging percentage, hitting 7 home runs with 51 RBI's, 25 doubles, two triples, and 42 stolen bases in 84 games.
The acquisition of Scherzer helps a Rangers rotation that ranks 5th in ERA and first in wins. He joins Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, and Martin Perez in the rotation, with Dane Dunning likely to move back to a bullpen role following the trade.
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