“This was a done deal” - Brandon Nimmo reveals surprising details ahead of trade to Rangers

The New York Mets traded outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien in a direct one-for-one swap. Both players, part of their respective teams' core, are looking for a fresh start as they approach the twilight of their careers.

Appearing on MLB Network on Tuesday, Brandon Nimmo gave an insight into how the trade went down. Attached to an eight-year $162 million contract, Nimmo had to waive his no-trade clause to get sent to Texas.

"[David] said, "Hey, there's a chance that we have a trade with the Rangers, and it includes you,"" Nimmo recalled. "And I was like, "Oh, okay, wow. This is very surprising." So I kind of started to try and get a little bit more information. And the conversation kind of came to, "So, am I the one that's standing in the way of this because of the no-trade clause?"

"And he said, "Yeah, if you were to approve it, it's pretty much a done deal. We would just have to dot the I's, cross the T's." So for me, it wasn't just like, "Are you open to this?" Like, this was a done deal."

The Mets still owed Nimmo $101.5 million on his contract that runs through to the end of the 2030 season. On the other hand, Semien's seven-year $175 million contract has $72 million left to be paid. To balance the dollar differential, New York also sent $5 million in cash to the Rangers.

Nimmo had career highs with 25 home runs and 92 RBIs, batting at .262 for the season. However, he had a lackluster defensive season with a -1 Outs Above Average and +4 Defensive Runs Saved. His range of 1.75 per game was well below the outfielders' 2.22 MLB average.

On the other hand, Semien earned himself a Gold Glove-winning campaign at second base with an American League-high .996 fielding percentage. However, after earning a third-place American League MVP finish in 2023, he has had tough seasons, managing batting averages of .237 and .230 in the last two seasons.

Brandon Nimmo discloses Mets were clear about needing better defense

Brandon Nimmo also revealed that Mets management were pretty clear about wanting to back more talented prospects in the corner outfield positions and get better defensively overall.

"They were very honest with me, which I really appreciate, first and foremost," Nimmo added. "The Mets handled this very well, and they were very honest with me. That's all I wanted. So they said, "We have the ability right now. We have some young prospects in our corner outfield positions that we're really high on, that we think can play really above-average defense.""

Trading Nimmo opens up the possibility of the Mets upgrading the left field position with a marquee free agent like Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker. With Semien in the team, it could also move out infielders like Brett Baty and/or Ronny Mauricio. In Texas, Nimmo adds to their left-handed hitting, which was among the bottom four last season.