Max Scherzer: Mets GM Eppler Told Me Pete Alonso Among Players Who Could Be Traded

The New York Mets' fire sale continued on Tuesday after they traded starting pitcher Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros, capping a stretch in which the struggling fourth-place team dealt starter Max Scherzer, reliever David Robertson and outfielders Mark Canha and Tommy Pham.

According to Scherzer's re-telling of a conversation with Mets general manager Billy Eppler, the team was open to dealing slugger Pete Alonso too.

Scherzer spoke with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on the matter.

"Eppler, according to Scherzer, went on to say the Mets were open to trading not only players who would become free agents after 2023 but also after '24," Rosenthal wrote.

"That group included three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander (who was traded to the Astros on Tuesday), three-time All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso, left-hander José Quintana and lefty reliever Brooks Raley."

The Mets entered this year with great expectations after a 101-win season, but they have waved the white flag amid a lost season that sees the team six games behind the last spot in the National League wild-card race.

After the Scherzer trade, Eppler told reporters that the Mets were not undergoing a fire sale.

That certainly appears to be the case now after the Mets traded two of their three top starting pitchers, their closer and an outfielder who played nearly every day.

Regardless of what one wants to call the Mets' moves, it's clear they are looking toward the future, based on other comments Scherzer made to Rosenthal regarding the Eppler conversation.

"I talked to Billy," Scherzer told Rosenthal. "I was like, 'OK, are we reloading for 2024?' He goes, 'No, we're not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, '25 at the earliest, more like '26. We're going to be making trades around that.'

"I was like, 'So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?' He said, 'No, we're not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We're going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. '24 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.'"

Getting back to Alonso, he told reporters Tuesday that the front office hasn't said anything to him about being traded.

It never happened after the 6 p.m. ET deadline came and went, and Alonso instead decided to focus on moving forward and doing what he can do to help this current team win.

If Alonso is moved next offseason or next year, it would be a massive blow to a team that figured to have him as a big part of their future. Alonso is struggling at the dish this year (career-low .219 average), but he's still smacked 30 home runs to go along with 75 RBI and a .819 OPS.

For now, the shorthanded Mets' strategy appears to be playing out the string of a lost 2023 season.