Bold NY Mets trade deadline deal is on the brink of going to waste

The 2023 season was a bleak time for the New York Mets. The club loaded up on veterans, particularly in the starting rotation, hoping to make a run. By the trade deadline, they had arrived at a crossroads.

The club had gone 29-27 through the season's first two months, but a 7-19 June put them behind the eight-ball in the playoff chase. To their credit, they turned things around in July, going 14-9, but it wasn't enough to stop the inevitable sell-off.

One of the key players dealt at the deadline was fan favorite Max Scherzer. Scherzer dazzled in his first season in Queens, posting a 2.29 ERA in 2022, but at 38, his 4.01 mark in 2023, while not bad, was a sign that Father Time was beginning to catch up with him.

With their future uncertain, the Mets opted to deal him to the Texas Rangers at the deadline. Coming back to New York was Luisangel Acuña, the younger brother of Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr., and at the time, the No. 71 prospect in baseball.

While this might seem like the standard veteran-for-prospect trade, it was anything but, and now the Mets stand at the precipice of realizing all they gave up was for naught.

The Mets' Max Scherzer-for-Luisangel Acuña deal is on the verge of becoming a costly mistake

Not only did the Mets give up Scherzer for Acuña, but they paid the Rangers the entire remainder of Scherzer's 2023 salary, plus roughly half of the final year he had remaining on his three-year, $130 million deal in 2024.

Essentially, they paid tens of millions of dollars for the chance at getting a promising youngster. Luisangel was highly regarded, but not like his older brother Ronald. Immediately after coming over from Texas, the speedy middle infielder was assigned to Double-A Binghamton, where he saw his wRC+ drop from 119 with Texas' Double-A club to a 79 mark.

Since then, Acuña has yo-yo'd back and forth from the minors to the big league club, burning through all of his options in the process. The 2025 campaign marked the longest run he's gotten, appearing in 95 contests, but slashing just .234/.293/.274 and ending the year with a donut in the homer column.

There's still a chance for him to carve out a valuable role as a utility man. His speed plays up, and he has experience at shortstop, second base, third base, and center field. That versatility hasn't stopped trade rumors, however. The Mets need more stability than Acuña can provide, but unfortunately, other teams know he's on the DFA chopping block, meaning they don't have to offer much of value for his services.

At the end of the day, it's looking like the Mets paid a huge price to offload Scherzer, and ultimately got very little in return.