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 be consummated, pending MLB approval. The left-handed hitter’s tenure with the Mets started when they chose him with the 13th overall pick in the 2011 draft.
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
Semien, a three-time All-Star, joined the Rangers in 2022 and won a World Series with them the next season.
Texas entered the offseason looking for areas to save money, with its payroll being cut and four players — Semien, shortstop Corey Seager, and right-handers Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi — set to make in excess of $25 million next year. While the Rangers will actually take on more long-term money in Nimmo, who is owed $101.25 million over the next five seasons, the per-year sum is lower, with Semien set to make $72 million for the next three seasons.
The trade is the first move in what’s expected to be a busy winter for both teams — particularly the Mets. As a result of the team’s slow collapse over the season’s final 3½ months, New York missed the postseason and eventually underwent significant turnover in 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 of improving run prevention.
The 35-year-old Semien missed the final 5 1/2 weeks of this season, not playing again after fouling a pitch off his foot Aug. 20. That was only the second time in his 13 big league seasons he has been on the injured list.
Before that injury, Semien had missed only six of the Rangers’ 615 games since joining them before 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 homers and 801 RBIs. He set career highs with 45 homers and 102 RBIs in his only season with Blue Jays before going to Texas in free agency.
Nimmo has a .364 career on-base percentage, including 583 starts as a leadoff hitter. He has scored at least 81 runs in each of the past three seasons since a career-best 102 in 2022.
Most of his at-bats this season were 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 homers and 463 RBIs in his 1,066 games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
