Mets’ lack of 2024 urgency feels like trade deadline slap in face

We heard from Mets general manager Billy Eppler a couple days ago that the Mets definitely aren’t rebuilding or holding a fire sale or a liquidation, that they are just “repurposing” Steve Cohen’s investment.

And so now, they repurposed Justin Verlander all the way to Houston, where he rejoins an Astros organization that already won two World Series with him at the top of its fantastic rotation. Verlander’s sometime teammate Max Scherzer had already been repurposed to the other baseball powerhouse in the Lone Star State, the Texas Rangers.

To accomplish this grand-scale repurposing, the Mets sent $36 million to the Rangers and either $35 million or $52.5 million to the Astros depending on whether Verlander hits his 140-inning vesting threshold in 2024. (So Mets fans, at least you’ll have something big to root for next year, as Cohen can save $17.5M if Verlander doesn’t hit the innings mark!)

The Mets will not look like a World Series contender next year without their co-aces, and apparently possess no plans to chase almost all the big free-agent pitchers who will hit the market this winter. Oh, they may make a long-shot try for Shohei Ohtani, who got word to the Yankees six years ago he couldn’t see himself in a big city, but apparently Blake Snell, Julio Urias, Aaron Nola and all the other excellent free-agent pitchers won’t even appear on their free-agent board.

Scherzer confirmed what we suspected in a long interview with Ken Rosenthal in “The Athletic,” saying he was told by Eppler that the Mets aren’t planning to go after “upper-echelon guys,” in what he termed a “transitory year.” Scherzer also said Eppler moved the target for World Series contention back further, saying the team’s “vision” now is for “2025-26, ’25 at the earliest, more like ’26.”

Talk about a transition, that feels more like a slap in the face. If 2026 is really the goal, Cohen’s original hope to win a World Series in “three to five years” is out the window, and he’s aiming for Year 6.

Cohen, reached by text on his way to Kansas City, where he had a preplanned trip but may be forced to see the new version of his team, said he’d seen the Scherzer quotes, and explained what the hope and the goals are.

“We will be competitive in ’24 but I think 25-26 is when our young talent makes an impact,” Cohen wrote. “Lots of pitching in free agency in ’24. More payroll flexibility in ’25. Got a lot of dead money in ’24.”

One thing to remember is this: Even when it’s not about the money, it’s about the money. Even Cohen, whose net worth is likely $20 billion-plus, couldn’t take the idea of losing hundreds of millions of dollars year after year ($200M is the estimate of red ink this year) if it didn’t translate to winning. Since it’s very hard to relate, it’s really hard to blame Cohen.

However, this hurts to the point that the permanent smile may be wiped off Mr. Met’s face (and Mrs. Met’s, too). This season began with so much promise (and actually got off to a pretty nice 14-7 start — who remembers that!) and imploded to the point where we will be waiting another two, or even three years, before regaining the aspirations we were expecting every year when Cohen bought the team.

Anyway, it’s nice to know where things stand, even if it’s not pretty. And there are advantages to their honesty. By telling Scherzer and Verlander the truth, it wasn’t hard to convince them to accept trades they never could have imagined when they signed their record-setting and record-tying contracts. Both future Hall of Famers had full no-trade rights but were convinced to accept deals out of town with the prospect of playing for an also-ran as a 40-something and a near-40-something was presented as the alternative.

Verlander was probably the tougher sell since he loved New York, and also presumably liked he and wife Kate Upton’s burgeoning relationship with Steve and Alex Cohen (they dined together recently). One teammate said Verlander’s list of teams he’d accept a trade to was short. “Houston and Houston,” surmised this teammate, and while it’s possible he might have expanded it to include the Los Angeles Dodgers, this explains how the Astros — a team with no prospects in the top 100 on some lists — established themselves as the favorites to reacquire him from the very beginning.

The deal for Astros outfield prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford worked out nicely for Verlander since he lives in Jupiter, Fla., only a few miles from the Astros’ spring home, works out at the Cressey Institute there, and loved being an Astro (and especially throwing to catcher Martin Maldonado). Scherzer, who makes a record salary this year, $58.33M including $15M from the Nats in deferred payments, also did OK considering he, like Verlander, goes to a state with no income tax.

If it keeps going like this, he may soon have more money than Cohen. I’m kidding about that of course, but Scherzer has a chance to earn his second and third World Series rings the next two years, and Verlander his third and fourth rings. Texas is the heart of Major League Baseball right now, and in the next few years, too. It certainly isn’t Queens.