Justin Verlander walked off the Citi Field on Sunday with one out in the top of the sixth inning of a 5-2 win over Washington.
He was left to ponder whether it was his last start as a Met. "I was a bit surprised with that one", Verlander said of the Scherzer trade following the victory, the 250th of the right-hander’s career.
Asked if it made him wonder about whether he could contend for a title in Queens, he said: "Of course. How could you not think about it?"
And he left open the possibility of, like Scherzer, waiving his no trade clause if his goals don’t align with the Mets’.
"It largely depends on how the organization views next year,’’ Verlander said. "Max [leaving] is a tough sign for trying to go back at it like [what] happened this year. I’m committed to trying to win a championship here, but if the organization decides that’s not exactly the direction that’s the best fit to go for next year — to go for it again — then I’m more open to it."
Verlander signed with the Mets as a free agent after a Cy Young season with the Astros last season and battled either injury or ineffectiveness for the first part of the season.
But Sunday continued what’s been a seven-start stretch in which the 40-year-old has been extremely effective and teams are interested in Verlander.
In his last seven starts, Verlander has allowed just seven runs in 42 ¹/₃ ⅓ innings for an ERA of 1.49 after compiling an ERA of 4.50 in his first nine outings.
