![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20d0099632b71e250a2ad1941ff8fff5d377bf921821511b8e7df6cec3102a98-400x267.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Canadian Press on November 25, 2025.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A month ago, Marcus Semien was a father of four with three years left on a lucrative contract in Texas.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, there\u2019s been a couple of big changes around the house lately.<\/p>\n
Three weeks after he and his wife, Tarah, welcomed their fifth child, Semien was traded by the Rangers to the New York Mets<\/a> on Monday for veteran outfielder Brandon Nimmo.<\/p>\n And just like that, the Gold Glove second baseman was headed to a new city and his fifth major league team \u2014 first in the National League.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was surprising. Just understanding that, hey, I signed here on a long-term deal four years ago,\u201d Semien said Tuesday via Zoom. \u201cBut once again, I\u2019m very conscious of what\u2019s going on in the business side of baseball, just kind of paying attention to everything. So in the back of my mind, I knew something could always happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Eager to improve their defense, the Mets agreed to send the 32-year-old Nimmo \u2014 their longest-tenured player \u2014 and $5 million to Texas for Semien, who at 35 has three seasons and $72 million remaining on the $175 million, seven-year contract he signed with the Rangers in December 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to play until they tell me to go home,\u201d Semien said. \u201cAt this point in my career it feels extremely good to have a team that believes in me, sees what I do well, wants to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n Semien said he was training last Friday when he received a call from agent Scott Boras informing him a deal could be forthcoming. But the sides were waiting to hear if Nimmo would waive the no-trade provision in the $162 million, eight-year contract<\/a> he signed with New York after the 2022 season, so Semien was asked to keep quiet for a while.<\/p>\n He spoke only to family at first, until news of the agreement broke Sunday. That\u2019s when Semien called former Texas teammate Max Scherzer to ask him about playing in New York. Scherzer pitched for the Mets from 2022-23.<\/p>\n \u201cI just asked him a lot more about family stuff more than baseball stuff, because I know he has four kids of his own, and just kind of bounced some things off of him, about how we\u2019re going to do things moving forward,\u201d Semien said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of baseball itself, I couldn\u2019t be more excited to play in a large market, play in front of a fan base that brings energy every single night, because that brings the best out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n Semien grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended the University of California, Berkeley, but said New York was his favorite city to play in on the road.<\/p>\n He was sidelined with a broken foot when Texas took two of three from the Mets at Citi Field in September.<\/p>\n \u201cI just sat back and watched and I liked the passion that the Mets players were playing with,\u201d Semien said. \u201cI liked the young pitching staff that they were putting out there and the stuff that those guys had. And I\u2019ve just been thinking about that series and imagining myself on that side now, and it makes me really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n Semien won his second Gold Glove this season despite missing the final 5 1\/2 weeks after fouling a pitch off his foot Aug. 20. That was only the second time he was on the injured list in 13 big league seasons. He\u2019s played at least 155 games eight times.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be a player who plays every single day. I want to be a player who runs every single ball out,\u201d he said. \u201cI take a ton of pride in keeping my body healthy, making sure my defense is on point.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like when I play every day, I get better. Experience is key in this game. Playing every day, getting better throughout the year is something that I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Semien, a three-time All-Star, has finished third in AL MVP voting three times with three different teams: the Oakland Athletics in 2019, the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 and Texas in 2023, when he helped the Rangers win their lone World Series title.<\/p>\n