Max Scherzer has potentially thrown his last pitch as a Texas Ranger after the club announced yesterday he would be placed on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain.

Following the final season of his contract originally signed with the Mets, Scherzer will be a free agent this winter.

The 40-year-old has said that he fully intends to pitch next season and believes a healthy offseason will help him pitch well in 2025.

Scherzer has expressed interest in resigning with Texas but when you begin to break things down from the Rangers’ perspective, it’s easy to see why Chris Young and the front office may look elsewhere.

If in fact, that was the end for Max Scherzer in the Lone Star State, many would wonder if it was even worth acquiring him… and I’m here to tell you why that’s not even a question.

Back on July 30th of last year, the Rangers struck a deal with the then-struggling New York Mets to acquire Scherzer in exchange for infield prospect Luisangel Acuña.

Making just eight regular season starts with the Rangers, Scherzer went 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA, as a team the Rangers won five of those eight games.

Alone, that makes the trade worth it because the Rangers grabbed a Wild Card spot by just two games. Without Scherzer, Texas doesn’t make the playoffs to begin with.

Not to mention the work that Scherzer did in the postseason, despite not having solid numbers by any means in October, the Rangers got some key outs from the three-time Cy Young award winner.

In the Rangers iconic game seven win in the ALCS over the Astros, Scherzer threw the first 2.2 innings allowing two runs in what would eventually be an 11-4 blowout win.

Sure, it’s not a vintage Max Scherzer start by any means but in October especially game seven, any outs are huge.

When Game Three of the World Series rolled around, the Rangers and D-Backs were tied at 1 after splitting the first two games in Arlington.

Max Scherzer fired 3 scoreless innings before leaving the game due to a back injury which would end his postseason and cause him to miss time in 2024.

Once again, outs are important in October and Scherzer got nine of them in game three, a game in which Texas needed to take control of the fall classic.

2024, clearly didn’t go Scherzer’s way as he made just nine starts going 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA. The year also didn’t go the Rangers’ way as they will not be in the postseason to defend their title.

One player who is seeing the year turn out to his liking is Luisangel Acuña who recently made his MLB debut with the Mets following an injury to MVP candidate Francisco Lindor.

Acuna has played just nine games with the Mets but is putting up some eye-popping numbers. In 29 at-bats, Acuna is hitting .379 with an OBP of .400 and is slugging .828 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI to go along with it.

Chances are, Acuna is going to be a really good player in this league for a very long time but if you’re the Rangers, you shouldn’t feel any regret.

Without Max Scherzer, there is no 2023 World Series. In baseball, winning the World Series is the ultimate goal and Chris Young did what he had to do to get there.

No Scherzer = No World Series, and it is as simple as that.