Brandon Nimmo Should be Next on New York Mets' Wishlist
In this story:
LAS VEGAS - The MLB offseason is only a few days old, but the Mets have already re-signed their elite closer Edwin Diaz to a record-setting contract.
The Mets signed Diaz to a five-year, $102 million pact on Sunday as their first move in free agency. Now, their next order of business should be easy: re-sign center fielder Brandon Nimmo.
Nimmo is a player that will draw interest from a number of teams due to the lack of two-way center fielders in the game of baseball. He is also a client of super agent Scott Boras, so he will not come cheap.
Nimmo is coming off a year, in which he posted a bWAR of 5, and slashed .274/.367/.433 with a .800 OPS in 151 games out of the leadoff spot for the Mets. He also had 6 outs above average in center field.
Per The New York Post, the Mets approached Nimmo during the regular season to let him know they had interest in re-signing him and potentially making him a team captain at some point. Nimmo has made it clear that he is very interested in sticking around as well.
Free agents cannot talk figures or contract details with other teams until Thursday. It makes sense for Nimmo to test the open market, given the amount of interest he is likely to draw.
That said, the Mets need to make sure they lock Nimmo down to a long-term deal, whether he talks to other teams or not. If Nimmo were to leave, general manager Billy Eppler said they would be comfortable with Starling Marte in center. But that would be a downgrade defensively.
SNY reported last week that the Mets were prioritizing Diaz and Nimmo. They got Diaz out of the way, and their next move should be signing Nimmo to a long-term contract.
Read More:
- Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker Opt Out of Contracts
- Mets Re-Sign Edwin Diaz to Record-Setting Contract
- These Hitters Fit What Mets are Looking for in Offensive Upgrades
Follow Pat Ragazzo on Twitter (@ragazzoreport), be sure to bookmark Inside The Mets and check back daily for news, analysis and more.
