Here’s a little game. Take every MLB player not currently on the Phillies. Picture them in a Phillies uniform.
Does any image feel weirder than that of Max Scherzer?
No way you actually played that game — it would take forever — but the point stands. Max Scherzer and red pinstripes feels like a match made in hell.
But could hell freeze over this summer?
OK, let’s pump the breaks a little (a lot). There are several factors that seem to stand in the way of that possibility ever coming into fruition, namely Scherzer’s no-trade clause, the unlikeliness of the Mets actually tearing down to that degree come late July and the Phillies’ reluctance to part with the prospects likely needed to land the three-time Cy Young Award winner, who boasts a respectable 3.95 ERA and 9.7 K/9 in his age-38 season.
But a report on Tuesday from MLB.com‘s Mets beat reporter Anthony DiComo seems to suggest at least one of those hurdles might be clearable. Take this excerpt from his latest Mets Beat newsletter, in which DiComo writes about the possibility of the Mets tearing it down in trade season:
“Start with Scherzer — no stranger to Deadline deals. Regarding Scherzer’s no-trade clause, he’s 38 and looking to win another title. Several industry sources have suggested he would waive it for the right situation. Regarding the size of Scherzer’s contract, the Mets could use Cohen’s riches to pay it down in hopes of landing a premium prospect in return.”
Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo on Max Scherzer.
Let’s reiterate again — the brakes should be pumped as it relates to the Phillies. There’s a chance the Mets don’t even go this wreck-it-all route in the first place. And if they do, the Phillies seem like an imperfect trade partner for a name like Scherzer, who has spent nine years in the NL East with the Nationals and Mets torching the Phillies. If the Mets try to take on most or all of Scherzer’s remaining contract, the “premium prospect” they’d ask for in return could very well be Andrew Painter. That’s a non-starter, and they’d have plenty of other suitors not to have to settle for anything less.
That’s mere speculation. Maybe he lets bygones be bygones and would welcome a trade to the Phillies after all, assuming they’re still in the thick of the playoff chase. Dave Dombrowski, who has a history of acquiring star players he had on previous teams, traded for Scherzer in 2009 when he was the GM of the Tigers. The rest was history.
There’d still be a wide bridge to gap regarding the contract, prospect capital, general hesitancy to make significant intra-division deals like that one, etc. But it’s at least fun to think about, if only because Max Scherzer in red pinstripes couldn’t be more impossible an image to conjure.
Must-watch (or read) Phillies content
- Phillies Nation‘s own Destiny Lugardo wrote about Ranger Suárez’s June, one of the best individual months in Phillies history.
- Brandon Marsh has run into a bunch of righties this past week, which Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote has ignited his blazing hot streak.
- The Phillies and Orioles have created a truce to help each other in All-Star voting. Here’s Bryce Harper doing his part and Adley Rutschman doing his.
- And last but certainly not least, keep an eye out for whatever happens in Mets land today.
Former Phillie Nation
- Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Santana each went 3-for-5 in a Pirates win over the Padres on Tuesday. One of Santana’s hits was his seventh homer of the season and broke the tie for good.
- The good news: Jean Segura homered in a two-hit outing. The bad: It raised his batting average to .195 and OPS to .514. If he qualified, his OPS would be the worst in baseball, and his average would be third-worst. (Two spots, that is, ahead of Kyle Schwarber.)
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