Texas Rangers finalizing trade to send Marcus Semien to New York Mets, per reports

The next era of Texas Rangers baseball won’t include the ironman infielder who was a staple of the last.

The Rangers traded second baseman Marcus Semien to the New York Mets in exchange for outfielder Brandon Nimmo, a person with direct knowledge confirmed to The Dallas Morning News Sunday afternoon, and continued what’s already been an offseason of change. The club non-tendered outfielder Adolis García and catcher Jonah Heim — each of whom, like Semien, were former All-Star position players — on Friday afternoon.

Semien, 35, spent four seasons with the Rangers after he signed a seven-year, $175 million contract prior to the 2022 season as part of a big-money offseason that brought shortstop Corey Seager into the fold as well. He was a two-time All-Star, won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger award and set a league record for single-season plate appearances the year that the Rangers won the World Series.

He regressed offensively in each of the last two years, though, and slashed just .234/.307/.379 since the start of the 2024 season. His 2025 campaign was cut short when he fouled a pitch off of his left foot and missed the last month and a half.

Rangers

Nimmo, 32, has spent the entirety of his 10-year career with the Mets and owns a .262/.364/.438 slash line in 1,066 games. He’s played in at least 151 games in each of the last four seasons and has posted a .760 OPS or better in eight of the last nine years.

He largely played left field (150 of his 159 games) for the Mets last season but has spent the majority of his career (538 games) in center field. The Rangers will have Nimmo, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, Alejandro Osuna and Sam Haggerty to fill three outfield spots with García gone. Langford played both left and center field last season and was a Gold Glove finalist in his second big league season.

Carter is traditionally a center fielder but has yet to prove that he can be healthy for an entire season. Osuna showed flashes of promise at times after he was called up last season but still finished with just a .591 OPS in 63 games. Haggerty — whom the club re-signed to a one-year contract Friday afternoon — is best served as a platoon bat vs. left-handed pitchers.

Semien had $72 million left on his contract to pay out in the next three years while Nimmo, who reportedly waived his no-trade clause, will earn $20.5 million for each the next five years. The trade will save the Rangers north of $5 million this season as they intend to reduce their payroll.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

New Texas Rangers era begins without World Series champs Adolis García, Jonah Heim