Max Scherzer back in the World Series, but not in the way Mets fans envisioned
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Max Scherzer of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate on the field after defeating the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the ALCS at Rogers Centre on Oct. 20 in Toronto. Credit: Getty Images/Mark Blinch
LOS ANGELES
The Mets had the right idea in making Max Scherzer the highest-salaried pitcher of his generation three years ago.
It was easy to envision Scherzer as a co-ace to Jacob deGrom fronting a championship rotation. But the problem with that $130 million contract was the execution. Rather than being the final Cooperstown-worthy piece for a title run, Scherzer’s Flushing legacy ultimately is one of failure.
However, he’s managed to get back on a World Series mound, at age 41, as the Blue Jays’ Game 3 starter Monday night at Chavez Ravine.
Stranger still is how it happened. Scherzer said among the primary reasons he wound up with Toronto this season — other than the $15.5 million — was the recruitment by one of his former Mets rotation mates, Chris Bassitt.
Scherzer and Bassitt were rock-solid for most of that 2022 season together with the Mets but then were complicit in engineering one of the most disappointing flops ever by a Mets rotation. The first domino to fall was the season-ending sweep in Atlanta that cost them the NL East title, followed by the Padres bouncing them in the Wild Card Series at Citi Field.
That winter, Bassitt signed a three-year, $63 million deal with the Blue Jays, and four months into the regular season, Scherzer’s trade request was granted. The Mets shipped him to the Texas Rangers in a deal that amounted to buying prospect Luisangel Acuna for a $35 million chunk of Scherzer’s remaining salary.
And now? Scherzer is pitching for a third World Series ring with his third different team. Bassitt has become a key bullpen piece who probably will back up Scherzer at some point Monday night.
At least the relationship the pair developed in Flushing got someone to the Fall Classic, just not the team that originally put them together specifically for that purpose.
“He has a really good pulse on what this clubhouse and team needed,” Scherzer said of his conversations with Bassitt. “We were talking throughout the whole offseason, and when things started moving in my direction, it just kind of seemed to all click. That getting back with him would be a great thing for me and that this was a team that could really go somewhere.
“They just needed to make a few adjustments. But he was really the eyes and ears of what this team could be.”
History suggests that putting Scherzer on your roster tends to get a franchise into the World Series, with a few notable exceptions. The Blue Jays are his seventh team. Four have made it to the Fall Classic and two — the Nationals and Rangers — won rings as a result. The 2012 Tigers, featuring Scherzer and Justin Verlander, got swept by the Giants’ dynasty.
We already mentioned the Mets, and his 2008-09 Diamondbacks never made the playoffs. The most notable of this group, however, is the 2021 Dodgers, who got as far as Game 6 of the NLCS, which they lost to Atlanta, after Scherzer was scratched from that scheduled start because of “right arm fatigue.”
Walker Buehler took Scherzer’s place, pitched on short rest and gave up four runs in four innings. Would Scherzer have fared better? He went 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 11 regular-season starts after the Nationals traded him to the Dodgers at the deadline, then pitched to a 2.16 ERA in 16 2⁄3 playoff innings, including a save in the NLDS Game 5-clinching win over the Giants.
That season also happened to be Scherzer’s walk year, so after bowing out of that final NLCS assignment, he signed the record three-year, $130 million contract with the Mets hours before MLB’s lockout put a freeze on that winter’s free-agent spending.
The Dodgers, as a group, never publicly questioned Scherzer’s inability to take the ball for that do-or-die game. But it does add some intrigue to Monday night’s matchup.
Scherzer’s last World Series start didn’t go so well. With the Rangers in 2023, he made it through only three innings of Game 3 and tossed two warmup pitches before he was pulled because of back spasms. He later was removed from the World Series roster, but the Rangers knocked off the Diamondbacks in five anyway.
Does Scherzer view Monday’s Game 3 as a second chance to right that wrong with the Rangers?
“I wouldn’t characterize it like that,” he said. “I’m here to compete. I’m here to win. I wouldn’t be looking backward at all for any motivation. I have plenty of motivation. I’m here to win and I’ve got a clubhouse full of guys who want to win, too. That’s the only thing I need to think about.”
But Scherzer has the nickname Mad Max for a reason. And when he’s on the mound, something usually is agitating him, whether it’s an opposing hitter or his own manager trying to take the baseball.
Scherzer turned back the clock with his ALCS Game 4 victory over the Mariners (5 2⁄3 innings, two runs, five strikeouts), so we’d expect it to be an emotionally charged playoff return to Dodger Stadium.
“He’s one of one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Great competitor. Wants to be the guy.”
For nearly two decades, Scherzer has been that guy. Now we’ll see who shows up Monday night for Game 3.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
