Mets get: 2B Marcus Semien
Rangers get: OF Brandon Nimmo
The New York Mets and Texas Rangers tried to get creative to address their roster and budget issues Sunday, agreeing to a deal to swap the two hitters, according to people briefed on the trade conversations. The deal is not yet official. As The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported, Nimmo, 32, is due $102.5 million over the next five seasons. Semien, 35, is due $72 million over the next three. When the terms are finalized, the Rangers will save money over the next two years, during which time Semien’s annual salaries will be $26 million and Nimmo’s will be $20.5 million. Their salaries are comparable in 2028. Our trade graders took all of that into account when assessing how each team fared in the trade.
Zack Meisel
Mets: C+
Rangers: B
I cannot figure out if this trade is interesting or not. On paper, it makes sense. Each side wanted a player who better fit the composition of its roster. There are debates to be had, if you’re really bored or bad at small talk at your company holiday party, about how these players will age and how cumbersome their contracts will become in the near future, but I’m neither bored nor at a company holiday party. Let’s live in the present.
With Nimmo, there’s only one number that gives me pause, and it’s his steep drop in walk rate, from a borderline elite 11.6% in 2024 to a pedestrian 7.7% in 2025. He didn’t chase more often. There’s nothing alarming about his bat speed. He did swing more often, but not by an egregious amount. Maybe it was a fluke. Walks are important for him, though. He’s always carried a walk rate north of 10% (and at his peak, around 15%), which explains why, for years, his on-base percentage was among the league’s best, including three years with one above .400.
Nimmo’s been good for 20+ home runs and 25+ doubles each of the last three years. He’s 28-for-29 in stolen-base attempts the last two years. There’s a lot to like with the profile, even at 32 years old and even, gulp, with five years and $102.5 million remaining on his contract. He’s a really solid player, and the Rangers ranked 26th in OPS (.684). They need really solid players.
Semien is also a really solid player, but at this stage of his career, it’s for different reasons. The bat is concerning. He’s still a patient hitter with good contact ability, but his slugging percentage has tumbled from .478 in 2023 to .391 in 2024 to .364 in 2025.
He’s excellent defensively at second base, a 2025 Gold Glove Award winner who was actually better the handful of years before this one, despite not having hardware to show for it. The Mets have made it known they want to improve their defense. Well, Semien will do that.
He’s owed $72 million the next three years, so not a huge difference in annual average salary from Nimmo, not that Mets owner Steve Cohen tends to stress about that sort of thing. The Mets ranked sixth in the league in OPS last season. They have work to do to remain a well-equipped offense, with Nimmo headed to Texas and Pete Alonso a free agent.
Nimmo has a potent bat. He is also 32 and has five years and $102 million left on his deal. (Elsa / Getty Images)
Chad Jennings
Mets: C
Rangers: C
A passing grade for each team because Nimmo seems a better fit with the Rangers and Semien a better fit with the Mets, but there’s a reason each player was available in the first place, and it’s hard to think either team is significantly better off after swapping undesirable contracts.
If nothing else, Semien should help the Mets defensively. His offensive numbers were way down from 2023, and while the underlying metrics suggest he wasn’t that much worse at the plate, he’s still 35 years old with three years left on his contract. The Mets needed some infield stability, and they’d like to improve their outfield defense, and this trade should help in those regards.
The Rangers, meanwhile, have in-house alternatives at second base — Josh Smith in particular — but their outfield had grown weak outside of Wyatt Langford. Adolis García was just non-tendered, and Evan Carter has been hurt, and so Nimmo looks like an offensive upgrade. Nimmo’s defensive abilities have significantly declined, but he’s still a well-above-average hitter. Nimmo is probably the better player in the short term (a win for the Rangers), but he’s also signed to a longer deal (a win for the Mets).
