Mets Get Mediocre Grade For Brandon Nimmo Trade With Rangers

Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield of ESPN graded some of the early moves in the MLB offseason, and the Nimmo-Semien Rangers-Mets trade earned New York a C+ grade, and here is why:

"One-for-one swaps of quality veterans are rare enough these days that when one lands, and people are familiar with both players, the label "blockbuster" starts to get thrown around in a way that would make Frantic Frank Lane roll his eyes. This deal, which brings Semien to New York for career Met Nimmo, is interesting. It is also a trade involving two post-30 players carrying multiple seasons of pricey contracts. Lackluster would be a better description than blockbuster. The valuations on this deal at Baseball Trade Values illustrate nicely the underwater contracts involved."

Semien's age, 35, is also a surprising part in this deal, as they mentioned on ESPN.

"For the Mets, it's important to underscore the fact that Semien is 35 years old. Though he challenged for AL MVP during Texas' championship season in 2023, his offensive numbers have since headed south, as tends to happen to middle infielders with his expanding chronology. Over the past two seasons, his bat has been just below league average -- and while there is plenty of value in being roughly average, it's still a precarious baseline for a player on the downside of his career. His offensive forecast isn't as good as that of New York's heretofore presumed regular at second base, Jeff McNeil, who might still get plenty of run at other positions."

However, there is some sense to this deal, especially because he could be an upgrade over Jeff McNeil, who is also a trade candidate.

"That said, Semien is a much better defender than McNeil. Semien is coming off his second career Gold Glove, an honor backed up by consistently strong fielding metrics that have marked his play at the keystone ever since he moved over from shortstop. Though Semien's contract features a higher average annual value than Nimmo ($25 million in terms of the luxury tax calculation versus $20.5 million), it's of shorter duration and the move will cut into New York's considerable longer-term obligations."

Another glaring issue is the infield prospects that are in the New York organization already. This includes Luisangel Acuna to Ronny Mauricio to Jett Williams, and ESPN wrote that this move is also "head-scratching" for that reason.

Of course, opening up some cash in the short-term could be a precursor move to another deal or a splash signing, and Nimmo's name was in trade discussions for quite some time.

All in all, this trade will be one to circle back to at the end of the 2026 season to see which side won the deal early on.