Brandon Nimmo surprised by trade to Rangers from Mets

ARLINGTON — Brandon Nimmo knows he could have been a lifelong Met.

He knows there could have been a chance — if he kept producing at a high level — that his number was in the rafters at Citi Field alongside David Wrightâ€s. Nimmo owns a house in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where the Mets have their Spring Training home. Heâ€s never even known another organization.

So when David Stearns asked if Nimmo would waive his no-trade clause to finalize a deal that would send him to Texas, he knew he had some thinking to do.

Stearns took the possibility of a trade to Nimmo on Thursday. At the time, his no-trade clause was the only thing standing in the way of its completion. By Sunday night, he was a Texas Ranger.

“It definitely took me as a shock,†Nimmo said. “We had kind of built this life centered around that we were going to be New York Mets until the very end. … I needed to know that the Rangers were committed to trying to win a World Series. That this wasn’t a rebuild that I was coming into. That this was somewhere that I was extremely wanted and was somewhere that I felt like we would be competing for World Series titles, year in and year out. [Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young] made that abundantly clear.â€

Before waiving his no-trade clause, Nimmo reached out to Rangers ace Jacob deGrom, who was a longtime teammate of his in New York. deGrom affirmed everything that Young told Nimmo — this is a team that is firmly trying to compete.

“[deGrom] has nothing but amazing things to say about the Rangers,†Nimmo said. “He’s been on both sides, and he has absolutely thrived in this environment. He thinks that we are capable of winning a World Series. …We’re not in a rebuild mode. We’re going for it. This next season is a very exciting time for the Texas Rangers. I would not have waived the no-trade clause if I did not think that I could come here and be a part of chasing that World Series.â€

This trade makes Semien the most recent player from the 2023 World Series-winning squad to depart the organization. The Rangers parted with Adolis García, Jonah Heim and Josh Sborz at Fridayâ€s non-tender deadline. García specifically opened up the need for another outfielder in Nimmo.

Young emphasized that — like he told Nimmo — the Rangers are focused on winning moving forward, even as they part ways with franchise favorites.

“The last two years have been very difficult as we feel like we have not lived up to our expectations,†Young said. “When you don’t meet expectations, you have to make tough calls. That’s part of it. … We feel like this was a decision that was necessary for us. We’re looking forward to Brandon helping us achieve great things moving forward.â€

And yes, itâ€s clear that the Rangers would not have made this move if Nimmo wasnâ€t the best possible addition to help the club return to postseason contention. But more importantly, this weekâ€s roster moves are just the start to fixing an offense that ranked 25th in wRC+ (92), 26th in slugging (.381) and 22nd in runs (684) this past season.

Running back the exact same roster — or close to it — was simply not an option. Nimmo isnâ€t a world beater. But he is an impact bat that can slot into the top half of the Rangers†lineup and set up sluggers like Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford for RBI opportunities.

In 2025, Nimmo slashed .262/.324/.436 with a 114 wRC+. Seager and Langford were the only two Rangers hitters who performed better.

“I think that having a player who is not going to be a platoon player is huge,†Young said. “It gives us more flexibility in taking some of these other players that are versatile and being able to spread them around the diamond. It’s a really, really big move, in our opinion, in terms of creating some stability and consistency in the lineup. I think it’s going to make us better, and it allows us to deploy some other players in ways that can make us pretty dangerous.â€

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