To the surprise of no one, Brandon Nimmo opted to take the high road when faced with an onslaught of questions about the Mets ending his decade-long run with the team over the winter in a trade with the Texas Rangers.
Speaking with reporters in the dugout at Yankee Stadium — his first time back in the Big Apple since he was swapped for veteran second baseman Marcus Semien — Nimmo implored that the move was “probably a baseball decision,” rather than David Stearns wanting to put a personal stamp on a team that has gone south quickly in 2026.
“I’ve played here before when things weren’t going well, and it’s not fun,” Nimmo said. “I wish the best for them, but also I’m trying to take care of things here, and make sure we’re trying to play good baseball here.”
The Mets could certainly still use a guy like Nimmo in their ranks. The 33-year-old outfielder, who was drafted by New York in 2011 and played over 1,000 games in blue and orange, is batting .300 with an .836 OPS, four home runs, and 12 RBI.
Compare that to Semien, who is batting .208 with a .531 OPS in 35 games in Queens, and it’s safe to say that the Rangers are the early winners by a landslide.
But Nimmo’s exit back in November was predicated on the incessant rumors that the culture within the Mets’ clubhouse had gone sour, and that his relationship with star shortstop Francisco Lindor was not a healthy one.
“I believe it was probably a baseball decision,” Nimmo said. “Like I said last year, and even in these interviews in the spring, I didn’t see anything wrong with the chemistry between the guys. If it was happening, it was happening that I didn’t know about it, so they were keeping it hush-hush, which is kind of hard to do in a clubhouse where you spend most of the day with each other. But from my standpoint, I think it was a baseball decision. I think it was something that David felt would better the New York Mets and [Chris Young] would better the Texas Rangers. At the end of the day, I think it was a baseball decision.”
Nimmo, who had five years left on his eight-year, $162 million contract, had to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate the trade. His decision was helped along thanks to conversations with multiple people in the organization, especially former first baseman Pete Alonso, who told Nimmo that the Mets had not even contacted him about a new contract.
Alonso ultimately signed a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles during the Winter Meetings in early December.
“When Pete said they hadn’t even reached out to him, there was definitely a lot of uncertainty as to which direction they were going,” Nimmo said. “But ultimately, I had to make other phone calls and talk to other people and deliberate over it for many more days. So, it wasn’t just his conversation that went into it. I talked to dozens of people. It was just a piece of the puzzle that helped in the decision-making process.
“As far as not signing Pete and all that other stuff, I think they went with their gut and what they’re used to. I think that was a different direction other than Pete. Obviously, I would’ve loved to have seen Pete retire in a Mets uniform. He’s the Mets’ home run king and has all these titles to go along with it. I think that would’ve been awesome, but it wasn’t in the cards for what they felt like were the best baseball decisions. I think they try to take emotion out of it as much as possible unless there’s something glaring. I personally believe it was a baseball decision as to why they went in a different direction.”
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