Cheyenne's Brandon Nimmo Agreed to Eight-Year Deal to Remain With Mets
Center fielder Brandon Nimmo is coming back to Queens, as he and the Mets came to terms on Thursday on an eight-year, $162-million contract, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
The deal includes a no-trade clause and will pay Nimmo $20.25 million in each of its eight seasons.
Easily the top free-agent center fielder of this offseason (not counting Aaron Judge, who did play more center than right this season), Nimmo drew heavy interest from a great number of teams, leading to reports of pessimism on the Mets’ part about retaining him as recently as Wednesday, but they got the deal done.
Nimmo, at graduate of Cheyenne East High School, is a career .269/.385/.441 (130 OPS+) hitter and a capable center fielder who has averaged 5.2 wins above replacement per 162 games over the last three seasons. He was a first-round draft choice of the Mets, the highest draft pick out of the state of Wyoming.
The catch is that he has a checkered injury history, reaching 100 games played in just two of his seven big-league seasons, and will turn 30 in March, making him 37 in the final year of his new contract.
Having Nimmo back in the fold locks Starling Marte into right field and Jeff McNeil into second base and gives the Mets a surplus of options at third base—primarily Eduardo Escobar, Luis Guillorme, and prospects Brett Baty and Mark Vientos—opening up the possibility of a trade from that excess as New York searches for a fifth starter and bullpen reinforcements. Speaking of which . . .
Mets to Sign David Robertson
In addition to Nimmo, the Mets came to terms with righty reliever David Robertson on a one-year, $10-million contract on Thursday, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. The former Yankees and White Sox closer saw his career derailed by Tommy John surgery and the pandemic after signing with the Phillies in 2019, but he reemerged with the U.S. Olympic team last year, caught on with the Rays last August, opened 2022 as the Cubs’ closer, and, improbably, finished it as a high-leverage arm for the pennant-winning Phillies.
Robertson will be 38 in April, but, save for an inflated walk rate, he looked a lot like his old self this past season and should serve as one of Edwin Díaz’s primary set-up men, along with fellow righty Drew Smith and lefty Brooks Raley. Robertson’s a solid addition for a team that saw five of its best relief pitchers reach free agency last month, not counting Díaz, who re-signed before he hit the market.