MMO Roundtable: Reacting to the Nimmo/Semien Trade

There was chatter of Brandon Nimmo being traded the past week or two, but we’re not quite sure how many people believed it would actually happen. Then, news broke Sunday the Mets were shipping their longest-tenured player to the Texas Rangers (and $5 million) in exchange for 2B Marcus Semien. To say it took the baseball world by surprise would be an understatement, but it certainly ignited the hot stove this offseason.

The MMO team went through all five stages of grief (and most are probably still going through the steps). If you want to vent, commiserate and share/hear raw emotions from the trade, we got you covered here.

James Villani

• Semien: 7.4
• Nimmo: 5.1

Kai Chang

Nimmo has always been one of my favorite Mets, but putting emotions aside, this is a move I can wrap my head around. If I were the man behind the wheel, I probably wouldn’t have had the guts to pull the trigger — but that’s exactly why I’m not the one making the decisions. Semien is both cheaper and a generally solid baseball player, especially in the field. And realistically, Nimmo was creating as many issues as he was solving, so I completely understand why the Mets moved his contract. I’m not completely sold on this trade, but it’s one I can understand and accept.

Grade: C+

Christian De Block

Once I look past the emotion of losing Brandon Nimmo, who was absolutely beloved by the fanbase, I understand the thought process. Nimmo will be 33 in March, and with five years left on his deal, it’s a good time to get off that contract. His defense is quickly declining and it won’t be long before he ends up being a DH.

Marcus Semien is a good defender at second base, ranking in the 92nd percentile for range last season. He is a two-time Gold Glove winner, one with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 and the other with the Texas Rangers in 2025. He is certainly an upgrade in that regard. Whether or not he can replicate the offense he showed a couple years is the bigger question.

It’s a good trade for the Mets, who can now do quite a few things with their outfield. Could Carson Benge and/or Jett Williams factor in early on in 2026? Will Steve Cohen and David Stearns go after Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker? Let’s see.

Grade: B

Allison Waxman

I actually had to pause the movie I was watching to process the news, send a few text messages, and more importantly ask myself, “what in the actual?”Nimmo’s tenure with the team makes it sting all the bit more, and his connection with the organization and fanbase. I loved the Nimmo signing which I assumed would have made him a Met for life, but between lingering injuries and age, you could tell time would eventually catch up. The Mets perhaps wanted out before that happened (albeit maybe a few years prematurely, but to get out of this deal, now was the time).

The deal wasn’t just to make room for Carson Benge, or clear some payroll down the line but it also paves the way for the Mets to upgrade their lineup now. Semien’s bat might be a bit of a downgrade from Nimmo’s past two seasons in comparison, but his glove is an immediate upgrade.

It’s a solid B-/C+ for me.

Matt Mancuso

Since he arrived in Milwaukee, David Stearns has constructed his baseball teams in a methodical manner. Trading away a fan favorite Met, fresh off signing an eight-year extension, certainly falls into that category.

Today’s move is a tough pill to swallow.

Brandon Nimmo was the longest tenured player on the roster – one who helped usher in a sustained era of Mets’ success. He represented the club proudly, taking a discount to re-sign with the team upon his first trip to free agency. And yet, as a reward for his 15 years of service, he was ruthlessly shipped out of town in Sunday night news dump.

With that said, at the end of the day, baseball is a numbers game. In his first post-season press conference, Stearns emphasized the need for better defense; Semien and his gold-glove caliber skills help fill that deficiency. In contrary, Nimmo’s defensive decline was apparent to any fan who tuned into a game this season.

Per Baseball Savant’s Hot Stove Tracker, the Mets are on pace to lose 26 offense runs via free agency this winter and some of Semien’s underlying data remains similar to his 2023 campaign, where he ranked among the league leaders in offensive run value.

In the end, Stearns made the best long-term move for the franchise. In a vacuum, I don’t love this move, but as a baseball realist, adding flexibility to both the club’s payroll and lineup and boosting the club’s 2026 floor is good process. Nimmo was just the first domino to fall; it’s virtually a guarantee more will occur. Regardless of today’s movie, #9 will be hanging in the rafters someday.

Grade: Incomplete until corresponding moves are made

Rafael González

Initial reaction was on the emotional side of course. Nimmo’s a life-long Met who has been extremely valuable at times and truly wanted to be a career Met. But after checking the numbers there is more pros than cons. The cons are in Semien being two years older and being an average to below-average hitter in both 2024 (101 wRC+) and 2025 (89 wRC+). The pros are the years remaining on his contract, elite defense at a more premium position and above-average underlying metrics that suggest some bad luck. However, by far the biggest pro and question mark is the ripple effect this will have on the rest of the roster. This adds flexibility, the question will now be how the Mets brass will utilize it.

The quickest answer is giving both Jett Williams and Carson Benge a shot in the outfield in Spring Training. But the likeliest is this is the first domino to fall. Who’s now more available in trades? Will it be a full court press to sign Tucker? Bellinger? The tea leaves were already pointing toward an exciting offseason. Now let’s sit back and see what else is cooking.

Grade: B-

Johnluke Chaparro

As I’m writing this, I’m still trying to process what this is all about really, but my initial reaction to the trade is shock. I knew that the team had looked into moving Nimmo but had no idea it was going to happen to sudden. I had already become resigned to certain players from last season potentially being moved but Nimmo was the one I LEAST expected to go so quickly. Needless to say, I have mixed feelings on it. The emotional side of JL feels that this is such a big loss for the team and fan base, since Nimmo was a home grown talent of our own, who we all saw grow up in the orange and blue. It’ll be sad (and albeit a bit odd) not seeing Howie Rose announce his name as part of the starting lineup at the home opener.

At the same time, this is a solid baseball trade, granted the Mets fill the spot Nimmo vacates. Semien, although older, still has a ton of pop in his bat and his defense seems to be the main kicker for the deal. Nothing against Nimmo but with his strikeout rate going up and his pattern with injuries to his neck and foot, it seems that the team would rather find someone else with a better bat and bill of health for left field, and while unpopular, seems to be the right decision going forward. The Mets feel that Nimmo’s defense and bat wouldn’t hold up for the duration of the contract and with Semien’s deal being two years shorter, it gives the Mets more flexibility to add or supplement to the outfield, as well as the infield. In addition, as someone previously said, this allows for Carson Benge and or Jett Williams to take charge on a spot, which should benefit the Mets in the long run.

I loved Brandon Nimmo as a Met and he did all that he could do with the orange and blue. He will be missed but this was the right move to make.

Grade: B

Mathias Altman-Kurosaki

Seeing Nimmo get traded hurts, he’s been a Met ever since he got drafted when he was 18 and is one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met. However, I understand why they made the move – he’s going to turn 33 in March and he doesn’t really help David Stearns’ vision of improving run prevention. I’m not quite sure if Semien was the player I would’ve traded for, but this makes me believe more moves are on the horizon.

Like almost everyone else, it’s hard to grade this move without knowing what the team will do next. I think they’ll make a serious run at Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger, as well as try to re-sign Pete Alonso.

Grade: B

Nick Kalantzopoulos

Was definitely shocked upon seeing the notification. Always thought it was a quirky thing that Nimmo was going to be on the leaderboard of a bunch of franchise-topping stats because of his longevity. So, surprised to see the longest tenured Met go and I’d be lying if I said I know who that title goes to now.

As for the deal my initial thought was this is the definition of a lateral move if not slightly bad. And then I looked at Semien having a below 700 ops in b2b seasons entering age 36 now and I’m just not a fan of this trade. Bottom line Mets are a worse baseball team than they were yesterday. And the point of Steve Cohen is you shouldn’t trade money to get worse. Sure Nimmo’s 8-year contract was always a crazy-land contract for someone who isn’t a franchise player but 5/100 isn’t much worse than 3/75, and Semien’s a level below Nimmo imo.

I also thought Nimmo’s somewhat average if not slightly positive defense metrics as well as the eye-test were at odds with the perception that he was bad at defense.I also think if Semien continues his slide offensively he becomes a glove first bad offense second baseman, the Mets have plenty of in-house options that can do that.

Everyone is now wondering if the Mets are freed to sign a stud OF. I think the question should be does Soto now move to LF? And if he isn’t why not?

Grade: D

Mojo Hill

Brandon Nimmo was one of my favorite players to follow going back to his Vegas days. The fact that he’s a successful MLB player from Wyoming is a cool factoid in itself, and he drew me in right away with his elite plate discipline and sprints to first base on walks.

Not only is it sad that he’s no longer a Met, but it’s particularly disheartening that it ended so abruptly and unceremoniously. The fact that he signed an extension a few years ago and said he was happy the jersey is never coming off is a particular gut punch.

As much of a fan as I’ve always been of Nimmo, I didn’t really love the “new” version of him. I know people used to criticize him for being TOO patient, but I thought he was at his best when he was selective. The uptick in RBIs wasn’t worth the downtick in OBP, in my opinion. I was a little underwhelmed by his 2025 season.

From a purely baseball standpoint, I can rationalize the trade decently enough. My first instinct on Semien is that he’s old and declining. But his defense still makes him a decently valuable guy, and the Mets could certainly use some shoring up in that area after some disasters in the field this season.

Plus, I have to keep reminding myself that Nimmo is a grizzled veteran at this point, not the young kid coming up from Vegas. He’ll be 33 next year. Semien is 35. Semien really isn’t that much older. And with Nimmo already kind of declining, I can’t hate the move too much from a baseball perspective. It would be more exciting if Semien was still a great hitter — he’s average at best now — but it’s at least not egregious.

Now, of course, I think the Mets should be extra inclined to go for a Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger. Things will fit together nicely if they do that.

As the deal stands, I’ll give it a C+.

Brandyn Pokrass

On first look, I was pretty surprised that the Mets decided to move Nimmo. He’s been a key member of the roster for multiple year, is a true fan favorite, and was still providing some value as a hitter. But after I thought about it more, I think the deal makes sense.

New York is leaning into defense, which Semien has thrived at and Nimmo has struggled with. The deal also provides New York with more payroll flexibility in the long term, rather than the short term.

More significantly, I think that this trade is a sign of New York trying to get out in front of a potential fall off from Nimmo. While Semien has already started to see that decline, Nimmo’s turn could be pretty soon. He’s approaching his mid-30s, has multiple injuries, and, on top of his defense declining, showed signs of struggling with velocity as a hitter.

Ultimately, I think the move was a solid one for the Mets. It could have downsides than positives early on, but that is obviously predicated on further moves. I think New York now has more OF flexibility, shored up some of the defensive struggles in the infield, and now can make further additions to the roster. It also allows a player like Carson Benge to truly have a shot to contribute early in 2026.

Without knowing the corresponding moves, I’d give this trade a B-, but with room to go up or down on a reevaluation.

Matthew Tutrone

On his best day, he’s a clutch top of the lineup OBP machine, making dramatic leaping catches in the outfield. On his worst day, he’s selling out for power and lumbering around LF on a bum foot.

Unfortunately, it seems like Brandon Nimmo’s best days are behind him. The same could be said for Marcus Semien, which is why my initial reaction to the news of this trade was bewilderment. Why swap two guys past their prime on large contracts? Well, improved defense, for one. Even at the ripe old age of 35, Semien is fresh off a Gold Glove at 2B. David Stearns said improving the defense would be the top priority, and this move follows that plan. It also opens up the likelihood of more moves, both signings and trades. What’s lost from Nimmo’s bat could be made up for with a new left fielder (or right fielder, if Soto is shifted across the outfield). Grading this trade is nearly impossible without knowing what else David Stearns will do this offseason, but we now know that he’s willing to make some bold decisions to improve the team.

Grade: B-

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