Phillies

Mets Balk it Off while Max Scherzer Says Team is Looking to Compete for 2025 and 2026

By Kyle Pagan

Published: Aug 2nd, 2023 · 11:18 AM EDT

---

The Mets are the best! A year after winning 101 games they’re selling at the deadline and apparently are telling people internally they aren’t expected to compete until the year Wrestlemania comes to Philly. Max Scherzer had no problems spilling the beans during his introductory press conference with the Rangers:

"They're looking to compete now for 2025 and 2026. It was not gonna be a reload situation in New York. It was gonna be more of a transition in 2024."

Max Scherzer talks about his conversations with Billy Eppler and Steve Cohen around the trade deadline: pic.twitter.com/s9hT1IsVEd

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 2, 2023

48 hours earlier, GM Billy Eppler told the fans it wasn’t a liquidation:

"It's not a rebuild. It's not a fire sale. It's not a liquidation." –Billy Eppler on trading Max Scherzer. pic.twitter.com/lLFuBtOAEz

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) July 30, 2023

You’re right, it’s not a liquidation over there Billy boy! It’s something that’s never been done before in business. When you’re liquidating, you sell off assets to pay your bills. In the Mets’ case they are selling off assets AND still have to pay an insane portion of them:

So that's $35 million of the $59M he's owed for '23-24.

Then $17.5M if he vests the 2025 option.

Which would bring the total paid to have Scherzer/Verlander pitch in the AL West to just over $90 million … PLUS TAX! https://t.co/zjjsJRuLAy

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) August 1, 2023

$90 MILLION!?! PLUS TAX!?!? THANK GOD UNCLE STEVIE HAS ALL THAT UNLIMITED MONEY METS FANS LOVE TO TALK ABOUT!

This would be like selling your car on Craigslist and paying the guy every time he gets gas for the next two years. I need Steve Cohen to turn Scherzer and Verlander’s deals into some strung-out Bobby Bonilla contract we can celebrate every year. I want Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander to get $1.19 million for the next century!

How did the Mets bounce back? Well their Amazin Mets Foundation Brick Program that fans have been waiting two years for went off the rails. The site went down, which locked Mets fans out and made them refresh the page for two hours until they got a notice all the bricks were sold out:

We are aware and apologize for the technical issues being experienced on the brick program site due to the high volume of visitors. We have been assured that our partner’s technology team is working diligently to resolve this. Thank you for your patience.

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 1, 2023

Imagine staring at a Windows 97 “Under Construction” error code for two hours:

The @mets season summed up today when trying to buy a brick at Citi Field today. #lfgm? pic.twitter.com/L3urjx1LBw

— Joe Cahill (@joecahilltalks) August 1, 2023

 

Then they followed that up by losing on a “balk-off” in extra innings: 

The Mets just lost on a “balk-off” in extras 😂 #LOLMETS pic.twitter.com/OpwkBy20Wn

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) August 2, 2023

 

I mean, the jokes just write themselves.