Mets May Find Nimmo Elsewhere Next Season
Per reports, Mets OF garnering significant buzz..
Image credit: Roberto Carlo
It’s always nice to see a homegrown draft pick develop into a solid major leaguer. It’s even nicer when that player makes his way from the Wyoming American Legion ballfields into the first round of the MLB draft before embarking on a career that’s found him here, on the cusp of a lucrative, multi-year free-agent contract.
And he absolutely deserves whatever comes his way.
Since his debut in 2016, Brandon Nimmo’s developed into the epitome of a sparkplug. His .385 on-base percentage over his 600-plus career games ranks eighth in baseball over that span. Ahead of him? Mike Trout, Juan Soto, Freddie Freeman, Joey Votto, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, and Paul Goldschmidt.
Nimmo’s 134 wRC+ since his debut is sandwiched between Ronald Acuna Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. His 13.8% walk and 21.8% O-Swing rates (swings outside of the strike zone) rank 18th and 20th in the majors, respectively, over the same stretch. Not bad for a kid who never played high school baseball.
The strides Nimmo’s made defensively—first in left field, then in center—are considerable. His turnaround from a -4 OAA center fielder in the shortened 2020 season to the collective 10 OAA he’s accumulated at the position since is a direct testament to constant work and dedication to one's craft.
To be honest, that’s pretty much what you get with Brandon Nimmo. The natural peaks and valleys of performance are one thing; fight it off and keep it moving. But his ability to shake off injury after injury (he’s only played 100 games in his career twice) and still come back swinging (pun halfway intended) is something to doff your cap at.
Having not reached the century mark in games played since 2018 (through factors both within and outside of his control) absolutely had to gnaw at him, but he shook it off, put up an fWAR in the top-30 (134, 25th; just behind Starling Marte and just ahead of Xander Bogaerts) and heads into free agency with a definite buzz around him.
Per Andy Martino of SNY, Nimmo is “already meeting personally with teams” with some expressing a “willingness to move their current center fielder” to make it work.
Well, that’s something. But let’s take a breath real quick.
Image credit: Chris Simon
As noted, when he’s right, Nimmo is a player. And when he’s healthy, he’s mostly been that guy. But are the Mets (or any other team, for that matter) willing to kick in upward of $100 million for a player who, despite his well-rounded repertoire on the diamond, has had his fair share of injury issues? And therein lies the dilemma.
What’s to come of Brandon Nimmo’s Mets tenure is very much to be determined. All parties involved would presumably like to keep that train rolling, but that all depends on the numbers.
Marte signed a four-year, $78 million deal with New York last year—albeit as a 33-year-old—and, as noted above, finished neck-and-neck with Nimmo in terms of value. Five years at $100 million plus is a considerable commitment.
If the Mets have a deal in mind that suits Nimmo’s value as a ballplayer, as well as his risk, and Nimmo and his representation are listening, great. But Nimmo may have quite a few attractive offers coming his way and I don't know many people who leave millions of dollars on the table.
Martino mentioned the Yanks, Rockies, and Blue Jays in addition to the Mets, as well as the teams who decline to show their hand to the media. So what we know of is a beef stew of deep-pocketed teams and Nimmo’s hometown (kinda?) Rockies. Fun foursome.
Speaking on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove this week, Mets—excuse me, NL Manager of the Year—Buck Showalter offered a glowing review of Nimmo’s development as a ballplayer but knows which way the wind blows in this regard.
“He’s grown as a player and a guy that you can count on, and I hope it’s here,” he said. “He’s the type of guy you pull for. You love to see him have his whole career here. We’ll just see how the industry and his group, sort to speak, feel like that’s in the cards.”
Buck is wise. Should be a wild one. Stay tuned.
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