SURPRISE, Ariz. \u2014 Brandon Nimmo\u2019s cellphone rang on Nov. 20 and David Stearns\u2019 name came up on the screen, and in that moment, Nimmo knew something important was afoot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stearns had reached out before. The two had debriefed on the 2025 season just a few weeks earlier, for example. But there had always been an initial text to set up a time to connect. Now, it was about 2 p.m., and Nimmo told his wife and mother-in-law he could not let it ring through, noting how \u201cirregular\u201d and \u201cout of the blue\u201d it was to get a cold call from the Mets head of baseball operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So he stepped outside, and what went through his mind was amusing to him in retrospect \u2014 he figured there was a time-sensitive trade on the table so his opinion on an involved player was more urgently needed. So no time for a text. He even thought, what if it is something more urgent and really bad?\u00a0<\/p>\n