For anyone wondering about how the New York Mets feel about sentimentality, a big topic as it pertains to free agents Edwin Díaz and Pete Alonso, well, president of baseball operations David Stearns delivered a convincing answer.
By agreeing to trade outfielder Brandon Nimmo, the club’s longest-tenured player and a fan favorite, to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien on Sunday, per league sources, Stearns showed sentimentality is not going to interfere with his plans.
Yes, Stearns grew up a Mets fan. Yes, a big part of him probably hates having to make the kind of trade that would make the 14-year-old version of himself respond, “Ugh.” But, clearly, he is up to the task of putting that part of him to the side if it means improving his team.
As for owner Steve Cohen? It is always an owner’s prerogative to step in. His general philosophy, however, is to let his baseball people do their thing.
Díaz and Alonso are also beloved Mets. The Mets hold interest in re-signing both of them. But the Mets are not going to be persuaded by emotion. It may play some part. But if either or both Díaz and Alonso return, it will mostly be because the cold, hard facts said it made sense to the Mets to bring them back.
To that point, contract length is a sticking point in talks between Díaz and the Mets, league sources said.
Brandon Nimmo, a fan favorite, produced a 3.0 fWAR last season, the second highest among regular National League left fielders. (Elsa / Getty Images)
Díaz, who is entering his age-32 season, wants the same kind of deal he signed with the Mets in November 2022, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal previously reported: five years, $102 million. Meanwhile, the Mets are inclined to prefer something shorter, perhaps three years.
If the Mets and Díaz fail to reach an agreement, the expectation is for New York to more aggressively pursue free-agent relievers Devin Williams and Robert Suarez. Both pitchers are widely considered to be the next-best options in the closer market behind Díaz. The Mets have contacted the camps for Suarez and Williams multiple times recently, league sources said.
To be clear, Díaz and Alonso are better players than Nimmo, so the comparison is not exact. Nimmo, however, is no slouch. He produced a 3.0 fWAR last season, the second highest among National League players whose primary position was left field. Nimmo ranks in the franchise’s top 10 in several offensive categories.
He also earned Mets fans’ approval for sprinting to first base on walks and always finding ways to improve. Stearns saw it fit to trade such a valuable player, who happened to be a key part of the franchise’s fabric.
Stearns must have evaluated the Mets as such a defensively challenged team that he was going to stop at nothing to upgrade the “run prevention,” as he referred to it after the season. Key cog of the clubhouse, be damned. Semien, 35, is not the hitter he once was, but his range, per Baseball Savant, remained elite last year, and around the league, he is respected for being a hard worker and incredibly durable. Also, it was always going to be hard for the Mets to be a strong defensive team with Nimmo, an average defender in left field, and Juan Soto, who grades below average in right field.
The move tells us everything about how Stearns viewed the 2025 Mets. Despite missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker, they were not close to being good. The priority for the Mets this offseason, fresh off landing Soto with the richest contract in sports last season, was not to simply improve on the margins. They wanted a serious makeover.
The Mets gave their core — Nimmo, Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil — the runway to continue after 2024. They had earned as much after redeeming a poor first half with an enchanting second half that season. In 2025, however, the opposite happened. They lost that privilege with a historic second-half meltdown.
The Mets are not done. As The Athletic recently reported, they needed to trade some players off their roster before any potential serious pursuits of big names in free agency. Given their roster construction and financial commitments, it was too challenging otherwise. Trading Nimmo just made that easier (plus, Semien’s presence adds to what already was a surplus of second basemen).
The biggest area that needed improvement defensively was the right side of the infield. That just so happens to be where Alonso plays. They already upgraded there with Semien, whose presence makes McNeil, who is attracting trade interest, more expendable.
It’s certainly possible they might want to do more. That’s not to say they don’t want Alonso back. It’s just, as The Athletic reported immediately after the season, he’ll likely have to play more games at designated hitter if he returns to Queens. Last offseason, the Mets and Alonso experienced a tough negotiation process. Stearns is leading talks between Alonso for the Mets. What happens this time, after Alonso, a year older, had a better offensive season?
No matter what the Mets do from here, whether they bring back their star free agents or not, sentimentality is not going to hold them up. Before the Mets hired Stearns, rival league executives praised him for his ability to make decisions free of emotion. Call agreeing to trade Nimmo for an upgrade defensively at a key position of need Exhibit A.