NEW YORK — Brandon Nimmo, the longest-tenured Met and one of the most popular players in recent franchise history, is heading to Texas in a blockbuster trade that shakes up the team’s core.
The Mets are finalizing a deal to send Nimmo to the Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien, multiple sources confirmed on Sunday evening. Neither team has confirmed the trade.
The deal abruptly ends Nimmo’s tenure after 10 largely productive seasons in Queens amid an eight-year, $162 million contract that was meant to make Nimmo a Met for life. Instead he will join longtime teammate Jacob deGrom in Texas, while the Mets increase their defense and roster flexibility with the acquisition of Semien.
One of the game’s better defensive second basemen, Semien was also one of baseball’s most prolific offensive infielders as recently as 2023, when he finished third in American League MVP voting with a season that saw him hit 29 homers, drive in 100 runs, steal 14 bases, produce an .826 OPS and compile 7.7 Wins Above Replacement. Now 35 years old, Semien has not been nearly that kind of player over the past two seasons, but he remains a solid contributor who won a Gold Glove in 2025.
More than anything, Semien’s presence gives the Mets significantly increased flexibility while helping president of baseball operations David Stearns fulfill his stated goal of improving New York’s run prevention. Nimmo, who will be 33 on Opening Day, is coming off one of the worst defensive seasons of his career. The Mets now have multiple options to replace him, including using Jeff McNeil or No. 2 prospect Carson Benge in left field, or pursuing a big-money free-agent outfielder such as Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger. They are considering all of those avenues, according to a source.
The price of that flexibility was parting with a lifetime Met who won over a hardscrabble fan base with his “aw shucks” demeanor and effervescent personality. The Mets’ first-round Draft pick in 2011, Nimmo broke into the Majors five years later and became part of the team’s core with a standout season in 2018, showcasing a keen batting eye that made him one of the game’s best at reaching base.
Three consecutive injury-plagued seasons followed, but since 2022, Nimmo has been one of baseball’s most durable players, averaging 152 games per season in those four seasons. Along the way, he fundamentally changed his game, becoming less of an on-base machine and more of a power threat. Since 2023, Nimmo has hit between 23 and 25 home runs every season.
Had Nimmo stuck around Flushing, he might have someday had his No. 9 retired at Citi Field. Instead he joins a long list of popular Mets to spend the back half of their career in other places.
Nimmo could not be reached for comment on Sunday evening, but the deal required his approval to waive the full no-trade clause he negotiated when he signed his eight-year contract prior to the 2023 season. He has $105 million remaining on that deal.
Semien, who signed a seven-year, $175 million contract with the Rangers in December 2021, did not have a no-trade clause. He has $72 million remaining on his contract, and the Mets are sending $5 million to Texas to offset the difference in remaining salaries, a source confirmed.
More than monetary concerns for the Mets, the deal shakes up the core offensive unit of Nimmo, McNeil, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso that has largely proven unsuccessful since its founding in 2021. (Outside of a run to the National League Championship Series in 2024, that core has won just one other playoff game in half a decade, despite some of the largest payrolls in Major League history.) Alonso is a free agent and could also sign elsewhere, though the Mets retain interest in re-signing him.
