Brandon Nimmo waived no-trade clause to allow deal to Rangers. Here’s what won him over

Brandon Nimmo figured his number might find its way into the Citi Field rafters if he stuck with the New York Mets long enough.

He’d at least have a shot to pass legendary third baseman David Wright on the team’s all-time games played list if he played out the remainder of his seven-year contract with the club that drafted him. He could’ve at least made good use of the Port St. Lucie home that his family just remodeled to host his Mets teammates during spring training.

“But that’s not what it all means to me,” Nimmo said Monday morning. “I would rather win a World Series.”

That’s why Nimmo, a 32-year-old outfielder who spent the first 1,066 games of his career with the Mets, waived his no-trade clause and approved a deal that sent him and cash considerations to the Texas Rangers in exchange for second baseman Marcus Semien Sunday afternoon.

Rangers

Texas Rangers' Marcus Semien runs the bases on a fly out by Adolis García during the second...

Nimmo, who spoke to local reporters for the first time since the transaction via Zoom Monday morning, was initially “taken aback” by the trade but won over by the team’s conviction and desire to acquire him. Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young rationalized the blockbuster trade of a former franchise cornerstone with the belief that “in order to get great players, you have to give up great players.”

“We feel like,” Young said Monday, “that this was a decision that was necessary for us.”

Young said that the trade developed “over the last couple of weeks” as the Rangers discussed their offseason priorities and goals with each team. The Mets materialized as an interested suitor, and after the two clubs agreed on Semien’s valuation, Nimmo was asked to waive his no-trade clause. Mets general manager David Stearns called the outfielder Thursday night with the proposition.

“Am I basically the only thing that’s standing in the way of this?” Nimmo asked Stearns, who assured him that the Mets did not shop him around, but rather the Rangers inquired. “Is this already a done deal and I have to approve it? He said, ‘Yep, pretty much, it’s just dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s.’”

Nimmo and his wife, Chelsea, took Friday to celebrate their daughter Tatum’s one-year birthday. He spent Saturday and parts of Sunday on calls to better understand the position that the Rangers were in. He talked with Young for an hour and a half to discern the club’s vision and was convinced that this offseason was a restructure rather than a rebuild. He spoke with former teammate and Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom and was sold that the club is capable of high-level competition.

“I needed to know that the Rangers were committed to trying to win a World Series as well and that this wasn’t a rebuild that I was coming into,” Nimmo said. “I would not have waived the no-trade clause if I did not think that I could come here and win and be a part of chasing that World Series.”

The Rangers, Young said, believe that Nimmo’s profile fits the organization’s requirements as it ushers in a new era under first-year manager Skip Schumaker. The club non-tendered the contracts of catcher Jonah Heim and outfielder Adolis García two days before it traded Semien and significantly ruptured what had once been a championship-caliber core.

The three were each All-Star honorees two seasons ago when the Rangers won the World Series, but have regressed significantly since. The trio’s on-base plus slugging percentages ranked 154th, 145th and 140th, respectively, among all hitters who’ve taken at least 900 plate appearances over the last two seasons.

Semien, who signed a seven-year contract with the Rangers four winters ago, had a career-worst offensive season this year and slashed .230/.305/.364 in a campaign that ended after just 127 games when he fouled a ball off of his left foot. He was demoted from his once-ironclad leadoff position in an effort to jumpstart what remained a bottom-five offense but, outside of a standout June, was unable to discover his Silver Slugger form. Young said that Semien’s end-of-year comments — in which the infielder said that he knows “the kind of team” he wants to play for and acknowledged a need for a hungry clubhouse — did not factor into the team’s decision to trade him.

“We felt like part of our offseason objectives was to get back to being a team that really has, one-through-nine, very high-quality at-bats,” Young said. “Brandon Nimmo offers that. Brandon Nimmo is a very, very tough at bat. He’s a grinder, he’s a very smart, intelligent player, well prepared.”

Nimmo is an everyday outfielder who’s played 151 games or more in each of the last four seasons. He’s posted a .760 OPS or better in eight of the last nine and ranks eighth among all outfielders in WAR accumulated, per FanGraphs, since the 2018 season.

He owns a career .820 OPS vs. right-handed pitchers and owns a more-than-serviceable .759 OPS vs. left-handed pitchers. Langford is the club’s only qualified hitter who fared that well against southpaws in each of the last two seasons.

Young said that, while further discussions are expected to be had, Nimmo will “likely” play right field. Nimmo has largely played left or center field in his decade-long career but said Monday that it’s important for incumbent outfielders Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter to feel comfortable in whichever defensive roles they’re assigned.

He believes that spring training reps and work with Rangers outfielder coordinator Travis Jankowski — a former Mets teammate — will allow him to easily acquiesce to any of the three positions. Langford was a Gold Glove finalist in left field last season and Carter’s speed profiles well in center so long as he remains healthy.

Nimmo played in the National League East alongside the Miami Marlins for Schumaker’s two seasons in charge and “hated” to face them because of their “pesky” and “athletic” style of play.

“They wanted to win,” Nimmo said. “You could tell there was a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to win at whatever cost it was. If that meant bunting a guy, a sacrifice bunt or even a safety squeeze and getting a guy in, it was all about putting pressure on the other side. That’s what I get from Skip, as well, when I was talking with him. There’s not one way to win a ballgame, but, we need to use our mind.”

The Rangers will replace Semien at second base either internally or externally, Young said, and acknowledged that there’s no set hierarchy in place among incumbent candidates. He said the Rangers will be active in the free agency and the trade markets to acquire a backstop to pair with catcher Kyle Higashioka after Heim’s departure, while the need to rebuild the bullpen and add an additional starting pitcher remains a priority.

He said that the front office has a “rough idea” of what the budget for next season now looks like. The club still expects to reduce its payroll from the $241 million mark it hovered around last season, though Young believes that financial restraints won’t impact the franchise’s ability to improve its roster.

The Rangers now have an estimated $144 million in guaranteed payroll next season, per Spotrac, in wake of the weekend moves. Nimmo has more total money and years left on his contract compared to Semien ($96.2 million for the next five years vs. $72 million for the next three years) but will earn nearly $5 million less per season. The Mets also sent the Rangers $5 million, a person with direct knowledge confirmed to The Dallas Morning News, to help offset the difference.

“It’s not going to be at the levels it was in the last couple of years,” Young said. “We know that. We’re good with that. We don’t need that. What we need is our group to play to the level that they’re capable of, and if they do do that, this team is really, really good and they’re built to win.”

That’s what sold their newest outfielder.

Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn

To keep his promise to newest Ranger Brandon Nimmo, Chris Young will have to get creative