Strategic Change in MLB: Mets and Rangers Make Trade
The New York Mets and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a trade that could reshape their lineups. The transaction would send second baseman Marcus Semien to the Mets and outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers, according to sources close to the situation.
Nimmo, 32, agreed to waive his no-trade clause, thus facilitating the deal, pending MLB approval. The trajectory of this left-handed batter with the Mets began when he was selected with the thirteenth overall pick in the 2011 draft.
Semien, a three-time All-Star player, joined the Rangers in 2022 and won a World Series with them the following season.
Texas began the offseason looking for areas to cut costs, with the payroll under review. The move is the first of what is expected to be an active winter for both teams, especially for the Mets. The acquisition of Semien, who won his second Gold Glove this year, aligns with the main goal of the president of baseball operations to improve run prevention.
Semien, 35, missed the final 5 and a half weeks of this season after being hit by a ball in the foot on August 20. Before that injury, Semien had only missed six of the Rangers’ 615 games since joining the team before the 2022 season. In 127 games this year, he batted .230 with 15 home runs, 62 RBIs, and 62 runs. In his four seasons in Texas, he averaged .249 with 93 home runs and 319 RBIs.
In 1,629 career games with the White Sox (2013-14), Athletics (2015-20), Blue Jays (2021), and Rangers, he has a batting average of .253 with 253 home runs and 801 RBIs. He set personal records with 45 home runs and 102 RBIs in his only season with the Blue Jays before going to Texas as a free agent.
Nimmo has a career on-base percentage of .364, including 583 leadoff appearances. He has scored at least 81 runs in each of the last three seasons, after a career-high 102 in 2022.
Most of his at-bats this season were from the middle of the batting order, and he batted .262, the same as his career average, with season highs of 25 home runs and 92 RBIs in 155 games. He has 135 home runs and 463 RBIs in his 1,066 games.
