The New York Mets are buying and selling outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers in alternate for infielder Marcus Semien, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Sunday night time. You don’t usually see one-for-one trades involving two gamers with a mixed 66.9 profession WAR of their previous, however this deal was made attainable by the mixed $173.5 million owed Nimmo and Semien sooner or later.
The Mets and Rangers are each top-10 payroll groups and recidivist whales within the free agent market (with the caveat that the Mets are considerably extra top-payroll than the Rangers are), so this isn’t a straight-up wage dump. Certainly, solely a trivial sum of money — $5 million shifting from New York to Texas, in keeping with Jon Heyman — is altering palms. That greases the skids, but it surely’s solely about 5% of what Nimmo’s owed, and fewer than 3% of the entire remaining worth of the contracts being moved.
Semien and Nimmo have each been wonderful gamers within the latest previous, as mirrored of their compensation. Semien is on a seven-year, $175 million contract he signed with the Rangers earlier than the 2022 season; Nimmo had a .385 profession OBP, and was coming off a 5.5 WAR season, when he signed with the Mets a yr later for $162 million over eight years.
Pretty much as good as each gamers have been within the latest previous, the remaining freight on their contracts (three years, $72 million for Semien; 5 years, $101.5 million for Nimmo) all however definitely outstrips the on-field worth they’re possible to offer going ahead. Semien is 35; he’s seen his offensive output decline every of the previous two seasons, and whereas he was an excellent defensive second baseman in 2025, that’s a decline from what he was in 2023 and 2024, specifically an elite defensive second baseman.
Semien additionally missed the final month of the 2025 season with a damaged foot, although it was the results of an unfortunate foul ball, reasonably than some continual age-related degeneration. That’s encouraging, however when a participant Semien’s age takes his first journey to the IL in eight years, it’s price flagging irrespective of the reason for the damage.
Talking of foot accidents, Nimmo was coping with plantar fasciitis — in any other case often called Albert Pujols’ Illness — by 2024 and early 2025. Whether or not by foot accidents or another mechanism, Nimmo has been hemorrhaging athleticism over the primary three years of his deal. In his stroll yr (effectively, his run yr, given how Nimmo takes his free passes), Nimmo had 84th-percentile dash pace. This yr, he had Forty fourth-percentile dash pace.
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By all of it, Nimmo has performed not less than 151 video games in every of the previous 4 seasons, and after crossing the five-steal threshold solely as soon as in his first eight seasons, he’s 28-for-29 in stolen bases since 2024.
However the model of Nimmo the Mets signed up for within the winter of 2022 wanted to have the ability to run. Again then, Nimmo did crucial factor a place participant can do — get on base — extraordinarily effectively. Sincerely, he was probably the greatest non-Aaron Decide, non-Juan Soto, non-space alien on-base guys on the planet.
On the similar time, he’d hit 10 homers in a season solely twice to that time. He had by no means — and nonetheless has by no means — hit .300 or slugged .500. His profession strikeout charge was 22.3% in 2022, and it has not budged even a tenth of a degree three years later.
In brief, this was a median hitter — utilizing “hitter” right here to imply strictly the bat-to-ball element of the sport — whose elite on-base expertise made him an excellent offensive participant total. If you happen to’re paying that man greater than $20 million a yr, it’d be good to have the ability to use him in heart subject.
Nimmo was by no means Kevin Kiermaier, however at his peak he may not less than battle heart subject to a draw. Not anymore, and the athleticism markers are going the fallacious means. Over time, that began to trigger issues for the Mets. Soto’s not an excellent defender in proper, however even when he’d be keen to DH, the Mets had been utilizing that spot on Starling Marte. Pete Alonso most likely ought to’ve been DHing, however he needed to play first. Mark Vientos might be a primary baseman, however he needed to play third. Brett Baty is a 3rd baseman, however he needed to play second. Jeff McNeil might be a nook outfielder, however he couldn’t play there due to Nimmo and Soto.
What a headache. Even with terrific protection up the center, the Mets ended up with the Nineteenth-best protection total final season. Clearly, that logjam was already beginning to remedy itself. Alonso and Marte are free brokers, and McNeil simply had surgical procedure for thoracic outlet syndrome, which can most likely finish any desires he had of being a pitcher. Extra to the purpose, McNeil will not less than begin the season on the IL.
However, being tied to Nimmo in left reduces a group’s choices. On the similar time, Nimmo has been altering his strategy to change into a extra typical hitter. He’s averaged 24 dwelling runs a yr since signing his contract, however at an enormous value in OBP. Over the previous two seasons, Nimmo has hit .244/.326/.418. In 2025, he posted his first single-digit stroll charge since his 32-game main league debut in 2016. There are one or two further yellow flags should you squint — a declining in-zone contact charge mixed with an growing pull charge, most notably — however I don’t wish to overstate issues when Nimmo is self-evidently in decline.
Qualitatively, he’s now only a regular dude, reasonably than the man you possibly can stick in entrance of Alonso and have him rating 100 runs a yr. Quantitatively, Nimmo is now a 110 wRC+ man, reasonably than a 130 wRC+ man.
Personally, I believe the draw back threat with 5 years of a declining nook outfielder is big, particularly when he begins from a 110 wRC+ baseline. The Phillies discovered this out after they signed Nick Castellanos to a contract that nearly precisely matches what the Rangers owe Nimmo going ahead.
However Nimmo clearly has an excellent eye, and he’s already made one main strategy adjustment, and left subject isn’t particularly bodily taxing. At any charge, he’s miles higher than Adolis García, who was non-tendered on Friday, has been the previous two seasons.
Semien, along with being two and a half years older than Nimmo, has an offensive type that has far higher threat of going to zero. Over the previous two seasons, Semien has a .307 OBP, and he’s seen his energy drop from 29 homers and a .201 ISO in 2023 to fifteen homers and a .134 ISO in 2025. Semien’s contact charge is declining progressively — it went below 80% final season for the primary time since 2020 — whereas he’s swinging and chasing extra.
I’m not going to go as deep on Semien as I did on Nimmo, as a result of whereas Peak Nimmo was an odd participant, Peak Semien is way simpler to know. In 2023, Semien had a 128 wRC+ with elite protection at second base, and was price 6.5 WAR. In 2024, he had a 101 wRC+ with elite protection at second, and was price 4.3 WAR. In 2024, he had an 89 wRC+ with above-average protection at second, and was price 2.1 WAR. Perhaps push that final WAR whole up a pair tenths to account for time missed with the damaged foot.
There’s a large, big selection of cheap opinion on whether or not Nimmo or Semien is best now. All of the extra so should you’re speaking about how the 2 are going to age over the subsequent three seasons.
Me? I’d most likely take Semien proper now, however they’re of comparable worth out of context.
That mentioned, context is why this commerce received made. I’d take Semien over Nimmo for 2 causes: First, I place a excessive worth on the team-building benefit granted by having a stable, dependable second baseman. You’ll find a barely above-average hitter who can stand in left subject much more simply than an excellent defensive center infielder who has a clue on the plate.
For the Mets, Semien’s a greater match. You possibly can plug him in subsequent to Francisco Lindor, flip one million double performs, and overlook about him till October. The Rangers don’t have something just like the muddle the Mets had final yr on the left finish of the defensive spectrum. There’s Wyatt Langford, after which… I don’t assume I’d be particularly connected to both Joc Pederson or Jake Burger if push got here to shove. And if Evan Carter is wholesome sufficient to get within the lineup day by day, however not wholesome sufficient to play heart, effectively, you possibly can cross that bridge if you get there.
Second, the contract state of affairs. Semien will value the Mets $26 million this yr in money and $24 million in CBT worth; Nimmo prices the Rangers $19 million a yr for each, when you consider changes for signing bonus and what the Mets are chipping in for processing and dealing with.
If I had been constructing a group with restricted assets (which the Mets won’t be, to be truthful), I’d reasonably have Semien than Nimmo as a result of you will get out of the Semien enterprise two years faster, and for about $25 million much less total, than you will get out of the Nimmo enterprise. The Rangers are paying much less cash year-by-year, however the Mets are paying much less over the lifetime of the contract. That comes with the plain follow-up query: What are you going to make use of that financial savings on? How a lot of it is going to be redirected to fill different wants? This isn’t a sport the place cap area is a tangible idea; each resolution with a monetary motive must be adopted by, “After which what?”
That uncertainty makes this transfer — easy as it’s — exhausting to evaluate so early within the offseason. As pessimistic as I’m bout Nimmo’s long-term profession path, nobody can deny that the Mets’ lineup seems extraordinarily brief in the mean time. By buying Nimmo, the Rangers changed, and improved on, García. However have they got a plan for changing Semien, or have they simply robbed Peter to pay Paul?
In the end, this commerce of helpful gamers on large contracts must make the trail ahead simpler for each groups. In a perfect world, everybody walks away completely satisfied.
