𤯠Special Edition: Brandon Nimmo was almost traded a lot
Brandon Nimmo was traded on Sunday, but he was in a lot of rumored deals.
Hello fellow Mets fans. Welcome to todayâs special edition of "Almost A Met.â
What else is there to say? The off-season is now officially in full swing. Mets OF Brandon Nimmo was traded on Sunday to the Texas Rangers for 2B Marcus Semien.
I have mixed feelings about this trade. One the emotional fan level, itâs going to be weird seeing the longest-tenured Met not on the team.
On the logical baseball fan level, I see the vision here. Nimmo has rapidly declined defensively, his contract was looking like it was going to be cumbersome, and Mets GM David Stearns clearly has made run prevention a priority this year. Semien provides excellent defense at second base. The deal also opens up so many possibilities from a roster construction and flexibility standpoint.
I think the trade is the first domino to fall. We all need to be ready to see the Mets having a very different roster in 2026.
In fact, I had a great conversation on Bluesky with (friend of the newsletter) Drew Van Buskirk of about it. Follow us both if you donât yet!
While he became the longest tenured Met heading into next season â that doesnât mean he wasnât a part of numerous trade rumors throughout his 15 years in the Mets organization.
As a special edition of the newsletter, I thought Iâd take a look back at some of the times he was involved in trade rumors for several key players over the years.
See on you Friday with something fun. đ
Keep an eye on your inbox.
Andrew
All the times Brandon Nimmo was almost traded by the Mets
1ď¸âŁ Brandon Nimmo was almost traded for Jay Bruce
Rumors connecting Nimmo to various players date back to the summer of 2015. As Andy Martino, then of the New York Daily News, reported sources believed that the former first-round pick âcould easily find himself packaged in a larger trade.â
Just a year later, Nimmo seemingly was going to be the centerpiece of the deal that sent Cincinnati Reds OF Jay Bruce to the Mets at the trade deadline.
An original iteration of the deal would have sent Nimmo and two low-level prospects to the Reds. In fact, the deal was agreed to.
However, the trade was held up due to one of the players medical records. Ken Rosenthal reported at the time that Nimmoâs record was not the issue.
Eventually the deal was re-worked. Instead of Nimmo and several prospects, the Amazinâs would end up shipping prospects 2B Dilson Herrera and P Max Wotell to the Reds.
2ď¸âŁ Brandon Nimmo was almost traded for J.T. Realmuto
In the winter of 2018, then-Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen was gunning for Miami Marlines C J.T. Realmuto. We discussed this at length in an August edition of the newsletter.
While there were some wild rumors flying around (including a three-team deal that would have sent SP Noah Syndergaard to the Yankees), it was also clear that Nimmo could have been part of a package sent to the Marlins for their star catcher.
Mike Puma, of the New York Post, reported that the Mets âappear to be willing to use Brandon Nimmo as the centerpiece for the tradeâ but were reluctant to include their other top OF prospect Michael Conforto.
Nimmo, of course, took the trade talks in stride.
âIf you are in this profession, if you are playing baseball as your job, you want other teams to want you,â Nimmo said, according to the Post. âYou want to be in those talks because it means youâre a good player. I take that as more of an honor to be in those talks, but I havenât gone anywhere yet, so the Mets obviously think quite a bit of me.â
Soon, Van Wagenen would ditch the three-way trade idea and instead decided to pursuit a direct deal with the Marlins, according to the New York Post. The Marlins reportedly wanted prospect SS Amed Rosario and âanother player â likely Brandon Nimmo.â
Ultimately, the Mets didnât end up trading for Realmuto. Instead, in December 2018 they signed C Wilson Ramos to a two-year dealâputting to rest any Realmuto-Nimmo deal.
âIt was great to be talked about, but I am even happier to not be talked about for Realmuto right now,â Nimmo said, according to the New York Post.
The Mets would make another run at Realmuto in free agency, but would ultimately would never acquire the star catcher.
3ď¸âŁ Brandon Nimmo was almost traded for Jonathan Lucroy
As we covered in last weekâs newsletter, Nimmoâs name came up in 2016 discussions between the Mets and Milwaukee Brewers as the teams discussed C Jonathan Lucroy.
The Brewers first turned down a one-for-one swap that would have sent C Travis dâArnaud to the Brew Crew for the veteran catcher.
However, the Mets later would up their offer that included dâArnaud and a âsecond piece believed to be Nimmo or comparable player,â according to Ken Rosenthal.
The Mets never crossed the finish line in a Lucroy deal. Instead he was shipped to the Texas Rangers.
đŽ Brandon Nimmo trade reactions
đľ Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien Trade Reaction (Metsâd Up Podcast/YouTube)
đ Losing Nimmo (/)
đľ What a Brandon Nimmo trade could mean for Pete Alonso and Edwin DĂaz (Will Sammon/The Athletic)
đ Deep dive into newest Met Marcus Semien (Eitan Hain/MetsMerizedOnline)
đľ A Smile for the Road (/)
đ The Mets journey to remake themselves has begun ( / )