Brandon Nimmo Sets Record Straight on Francisco Lindor Mets Captain Chatter

In a November 19 live stream on his YouTube channel, former New York Mets reliever Adam Ottavino made a claim about Brandon Nimmo that raised a lot of eyebrows in the baseball community.

"Brandon is a very proud player. Brandon got pissed when they did a Yankees-Mets team a couple years ago, and [SNY insider] Andy Martino had [Alex] Verdugo as the left fielder and not Nimmo. Like, I saw Nimmo go at Andy Martino in the hallway about that. And I was like, 'Damn, you really read the paper like that? You care about what the talking heads say that much? That's surprising to me,'" Ottavino said.

"Also, I don’t think he liked any of the talk about Lindor being the [Mets] captain. Just based on the article I read. I don't know any of that on the inside... I think [Nimmo is] a little proud of a player," Ottavino added.

New York Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

For one, these comments were interesting because Nimmo (who was traded to the Texas Rangers for Marcus Semien less than a week after these comments were made) is typically seen by fans as a happy-go-lucky guy, which doesn't necessarily reflect Ottavino's sentiment.

What's more, a potential rift between Nimmo and Lindor surely would have contributed to the reported clubhouse issues New York endured last season, which may have compelled President of Baseball Operations David Stearns to trade him.

Brandon Nimmo Addresses Francisco Lindor Captain Claim

Then again, perhaps there was nothing to these comments from Ottavino, who said himself that he didn't know whether it was true. And this seems to be the case, given what Nimmo said about this in a February 22 article from Will Sammon of The Athletic.

“I never felt any animosity from Francisco about a captain spot. I never felt it at all. I always told anybody that asked about it, ‘I don’t need a C on my chest to know that I have an impact on this clubhouse,'" Nimmo said in the article, as quoted in an X post from @SleeperMets.

"I don’t think, by any means, does Francisco having a C or not having a C change the way that he goes about his business. Francisco was nothing but kind, nothing but an amazing teammate, an amazing leader," he added.

Brandon Nimmo on Francisco Lindor.

“I never felt any animosity from Francisco about a captain spot. I never felt it at all. I always told anybody that asked about it, ‘I don’t need a C on my chest to know that I have an impact on this clubhouse.’

I don’t think, by any means,… pic.twitter.com/tPsi3BEa6g
— SleeperMets (@SleeperMets) February 22, 2026

It sounds like there's nothing to this idea about Nimmo being perturbed about Lindor potentially being named captain. Not that this will help Lindor become captain anytime soon.

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Brandon Nimmo Addresses Francisco Lindor Captain Claim

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