being dealt for Marcus Semien<\/a>, and the flipped roster has been a complicating factor in trying to dig out from MLB\u2019s second-worst record (13-22).<\/p>\nNimmo believes, however, that trading him to the Rangers was primarily a \u201cbaseball decision\u201d and not due to any clubhouse friction. To him, the front office \u201cwent with their gut\u201d in reshaping the roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see anything wrong with the chemistry between the guys,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cAnd if it was happening, I didn\u2019t know about it, so they were keeping it hush-hush, which is kind of tough to do in a clubhouse where you spend most of the day with each other.<\/p>\n
Stearns\u2019 vision for renovating the Mets — and ditching the bad mojo from last year — may have overlooked one critical element. Performing in New York requires a special skill-set and it helps to have players that have plowed through that adversity, especially over in Queens. Nimmo always thought that was the case, but he respects that even more since joining the Rangers. The Mets, so to speak, tend to have their very own unique challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne hundred percent,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cGuys would always tell me when they would come from other teams, \u2019Is this always how it is here?\u2019 And I didn\u2019t know any different, so I was like, I\u2019m not really the guy to ask about that. This is how it\u2019s been ever since I came up.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow being on the other side, I do realize what they mean. It is a lot more laid back. I wouldn\u2019t say less responsibility, but it\u2019s just a whole lot easier. So there is a certain type of player and type of person that it takes in order to be in New York. I understand that better now. I just grew up in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anything specific?<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything, honestly,\u201d Nimmo continued. \u201cTraffic getting places, the logistics of travel, the media on the everyday basis — and how much of it there is. Even like the outward appearances of social media profiles, getting pulled in different directions to meet this celebrity and that celebrity. It\u2019s all great — it\u2019s fantastic. And I absolutely loved it while I was here. But I do see what guys are talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stearns was born and raised in Manhattan, but after front-office stints in Cleveland, Houston and Milwaukee, maybe he lost sight of that that New York ingredient when he took over the top job with the Mets. Nearly all of his new imports are either hurt or stumbling, from Semien (.208 BA) to Bo Bichette (.586 OPS) to Jorge Polanco (achy Achilles) to Luis Robert Jr. (back inflammation).<\/p>\n
Nimmo arrived in the Bronx only five days after Alonso visited with the Orioles, but neither took the opportunity to take a well-deserved swipe at their former team. Alonso was off to a slow start for Baltimore, but enjoyed his return to New York, going 5-for-14 with a double and two homers, boosting him to six for the season. Nimmo did not start Tuesday and has been used sparingly since tweaking his hamstring last week against the Yankees in Texas. But he\u2019s hitting .300 (39-for-130) from the leadoff spot with four homers and an .836 OPS.<\/p>\n
On May 5, the Mets were losing the Nimmo trade, along with plenty of games in the process. Reversing that dismal trend in Flushing is not impossible — Nimmo and Alonso helped fuel the miraculous turnaround in 2024 — but these Mets don\u2019t appear equipped to do the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the best things you can do in New York is not panic,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cBad things are gonna happen. And if you just accept that, and face it head on, there\u2019s a light at the other end of the tunnel. But sometimes you only know that after going through it a few times.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Mets are experiencing that firsthand, just as the Nimmo Era teams repeatedly did — far too often. The challenge for them now is surviving New York before it swallows their season. Navigating that is something Nimmo said he talked about with his agent, Scott Boras, as well as Stearns and owner Steve Cohen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a factor of people that seem to be comfortable (in New York) and succeed here,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cAnd some guys it doesn\u2019t translate as well. It\u2019s one of those things, like chemistry, that\u2019s harder to measure. But it\u2019s 100% a real factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The eternally upbeat Nimmo seems happy in his Texas uniform. The Mets he chose to leave behind? Not so much.<\/p>\n
![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778035027_225_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
\n\tDavid Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball’s Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t blame Brandon Nimmo for the Mets ill-fated decision to nuke the core last winter. Nimmo was prepared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[20,9,24,321,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-221495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}