Brandon Nimmo is no longer a Met.
After a 10-year career that began in Flushing, Nimmo on Sunday was traded to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien, sources confirmed — part of an expected overhaul after the Mets failed to make the playoffs.
Semien, 35, is an above-average defender who had a .230/.305/.364 slash line with 15 home runs, 62 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 127 games in 2025. The move also spoke to president of baseball operations David Stearns’ vow to better the team via “run prevention” — improved pitching and defense.
Nimmo, 33, has five years worth $101.25 million left on his contract; Semien has three years left worth $72 million.
Nimmo, a homegrown Met, was part of an already weak defensive outfield that was mostly carried by Tyrone Taylor in center. The Mets re-signed the glove-first Taylor this past week but will need to slot in another piece before the season begins. Nimmo registered minus-1 outs above average in 2025 but was a pivotal part of the team on and off the field and registered a .324 on-base percentage.
“I think part of improving our defense, in particular, is having someone of our players who were with us last year play better defense,” Stearns said at the general managers’ meetings earlier this month in Las Vegas. “That is going to be essential . . . Sure, we would expect some new players on our team somewhere around the diamond.”
Stearns continued: “I think Brandon had a year where he made a lot of good plays defensively and then there were probably some plays that he knows he can make that he wants to make that we didn’t quite secure. I think he would tell you that he’s a better defender overall than what he showed last year, and I think he’s going to prove that.”
Nimmo, one of the two de facto captains on the team, was the longest-tenured Met on the roster. He has hit .262 in his career and is seventh in franchise offensive WAR. His .364 on-base percentage is eighth in Mets history and his 593 runs are sixth.
“We had a lot of talent,” Nimmo said at season’s end. “I said at one point in the year that I felt like it was the most talented team I ever played on and we weren’t able to make the playoffs. That’s obviously coming up short and a failure in my mind.”
Adding Semien is a defensive boost but creates questions about where Stearns is headed next. Jeff McNeil, who has one year left on his contract, was their second baseman but has enough versatility to be used almost anywhere on the diamond. During the GM meetings, Stearns said Brett Baty earned a true shot at being a primary third baseman and added that prospect Carson Benge has the ability to win a spot as the starting centerfielder out of spring training.
Semien’s last 100-RBI season was in 2023, and he hit 45 home runs for Toronto in 2021. He is a three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger and two-time Gold Glover and has been in the top three in MVP voting three times. He retains solid bat-to-ball skills, with a 75% squared-up percentile, and has among the lowest chase rates in baseball. He’s in the 81st percentile in sprint speed and 91st in range.
Though he suffered a down year last season, acquiring him does fit in with the Mets’ focus toward defense.
“The brand of baseball, the brand of defense that we played over the last two months of the season wasn’t good enough,” Stearns said. “It has to get better.”
Newsday’s David Lennon contributed to this story.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.