Sources: Rangers, Mets reach deal to swap Marcus Semien, Brandon Nimmo
The New York Mets and Texas Rangers have agreed to a trade that would send second baseman Marcus Semien to the Mets and outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
Nimmo, 32, agreed to waive his no-trade clause, sources said, allowing the deal to close, pending MLB approval. The left-handed hitter’s tenure with the Mets began when they selected him with the 13th overall pick in the 2011 draft.
Semien, a three-time All-Star, joined the Rangers in 2022 and won a World Series with them the following season.
Texas entered the offseason looking for areas to save money, with a reduced payroll and four players — Semien, shortstop Corey Seager and right-handers Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi — expected to make more than $25 million next year. While the Rangers will actually take more money long term with Nimmo, who is owed $101.25 million over the next five seasons, the annual sum is less, with Semien set to make $72 million over the next three seasons.
The trade is the first step in what promises to be a busy winter for both teams, particularly the Mets. Due to the team’s slow collapse over the final three and a half months of the season, New York missed the playoffs and ultimately suffered significant turnover on its coaching staff. The acquisition of Semien — who won his second Gold Glove this year — aligns with president of baseball operations David Stearns’ primary goal this winter to improve run prevention.
Semien, 35, missed the final five and a half weeks of this season, not playing again after fouling his foot on Aug. 20. It was only the second time in his 13 big league seasons that he was on the injured list.
Before this injury, Semien had missed only six of the Rangers’ 615 games since joining them ahead of the 2022 season. He hit .230 with 15 homers, 62 RBIs and 62 runs in 127 games this year, and .249 with 93 homers and 319 RBIs in his four seasons in Texas.
In 1,629 career games with the White Sox (2013-14), Athletics (2015-20), Blue Jays (2021) and Rangers, he has a .253 batting average with 253 home runs and 801 RBIs. He set career highs with 45 home runs and 102 RBIs in his lone season with the Blue Jays before heading to Texas in free agency.
Nimmo has a career on-base percentage of .364, including 583 starts as a leadoff hitter. He has scored at least 81 points in each of the last three seasons since a career-high 102 in 2022.
Most of his at-bats this season came from the middle of the batting order, and he hit .262 — the same as his career average — with single-season highs of 25 homers and 92 RBIs in 155 games. He has 135 home runs and 463 RBIs in 1,066 games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
