Tankin Ain’t Easy: Mets fans get first laugh after Max Scherzer trade

The Mets don’t have a lot to laugh about at the moment, but at least Max Scherzer’s first start with the Rangers gives them a bit of comic relief.

The rules of the Max Scherzer trade are simple. They’re the same ones that apply on the playground: No take backs.

In the “Year of Repurposing,” the New York Mets shipped Scherzer off to the Texas Rangers in return for young talent ahead of the August 1 trade deadline. Top-ranked prospect Luisangel Acuña still has his entire career ahead of him, and Mets fans may not be so jubilant about the trade if the Acuña doesn’t pan out. But that’s not what New York is preoccupied with at the moment. Right now, the Mets just want to see Scherzer suffer.

And for two hell-ish innings in his first start for the Rangers on Thursday, he did.

In the first inning against the Chicago White Sox, Scherzer allowed three runs on three hits and two walks at Globe Life Field.

In the second, the White Sox — who rank at the bottom of the league in runs scored, by the way — got another three hits.

In total, Scherzer allowed six hits through the first two innings, the most he’s allowed in that span since 2017.

Max Scherzer stumbles but doesn’t fall in Rangers debut

For a very brief respite, Mets fans chuckled to themselves on their sofas and thought how nice and peaceful it was to not have to care about that jabroni. “Didn’t I tell you, he’s trending in the wrong direction. Damaged goods.” He’s the Rangers’ problem now.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: the Mets’ 2023 season is the equivalent of a meteor crashing into Earth. On Wednesday, the Mets lost 9-2 against the worst team in baseball, the Kansas City Royals. And they didn’t just lose to the Royals — they got swept by them after trading Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

That’s not to say any kind of cause or correlation is happening here. It’s just to say: the Mets are a bad team this year, and they have no business making fun of other people’s woes.

On top of their ugly sweep against Kansas City, the Mets’ window for making fun of Scherzer closed later that day, as the veteran pitcher actually put together a respectable debut.

After his first torturous two innings, Scherzer breezed through the White Sox’s lineup for the next four innings.

In total, Scherzer struck out nine and walked two in six innings, throwing 105 pitches in total. He only allowed one runner in his final four innings, and the Rangers went on to win the game, 5-3.

So as much as Mets fans want to rub their rears in the Rangers’ faces and obnoxiously yell, “I told you so!”, it’s much too early to judge the Scherzer trade. Maybe just focus on self-reflection for now.