Why Mets' Brandon Nimmo Wants To Stay In Centerfield In Walk Year

After taking major strides in centerfield a season ago, Brandon Nimmo entered the offseason with the utmost confidence in his ability to play the position for the foreseeable future.

But with his longtime friend, Michael Conforto, likely on the way out in free agency, the Mets opted to sign Starling Marte.

Marte, of course, has vast experience in center but his defensive skills have declined over the past few seasons which could make him a better fit in left field. However, the Mets have yet to reveal their plans regarding where they intend on aligning Marte and Nimmo in the outfield.

With Nimmo entering his walk year in 2022, he told Tim Healey of Newsday that his ideal preference would be to remain in center, where he feels that he has proved himself.

"It proved that, hey, if you give me information, if you allow me to make the adjustments, I will give it everything I got," Nimmo told Newsday this week. "I was very, very proud of the difference in the numbers from ’20 to ’21 and doing what they asked me to do and improving there."

Nimmo initially struggled in center during the Covid-shortened campaign when he was first moved to center on an everyday basis. But last season, the 28-year-old came back to post 4 defensive runs saved in this spot, despite producing -5 DRS in the year prior. This improvement was mainly due to the way the Mets positioned him, which was often shallow at times. And the data they provided led to impressive results.

"I’ve always said this: If I’m not playing centerfield, then someone really, really good must be there," Nimmo said. "And that will mean we have a good outfield."

Nimmo, who is set to become a free agent after the season, also agreed with Newsday that centerfielders get paid more on the market as well.

Back in November, Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Mets were open to discussing a contract extension with Nimmo prior to the regular season.

But Nimmo has since left CAA and is now represented by super agent, Scott Boras. While Boras standardly listens to offers from teams, his clients often wind up testing the waters in free agency, as opposed to signing extensions before their walk year.

Conforto, who is also repped by Boras, is the latest example of this. The Mets were in talks with his camp last year, which surprisingly carried over into the beginning of the regular season. Albeit, Conforto and the Mets were unable to strike a deal, and the outfielder declined their one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer in November, despite a disappointing 2021 campaign.

So, a Nimmo extension is a bit harder to envision at this point. Especially with the lockout and spring training overlapping each other. The Mets aren't the only team that will be racing to sign players and make trades once the work stoppage is over, while simultaneously starting big league camp .This could very well push any Nimmo contract talks down the Mets' priority list since they need to finish filling out their roster.

Nimmo has dealt with a slew of injuries throughout his career as well, including last season when he was limited to just 92 games due to hand and hamstring issues. If the Mets were to sign him to a long-term deal prior to the season, they'd be taking a risk, considering he has struggled to stay on the field across a full campaign in the past.

Regardless, Nimmo has been one of the most productive outfielders in baseball over the course of the last four seasons. Since the start of 2018, Nimmo has slashed .267/.398/.457 across 356 games, and his on-base percentage is tied for the fourth-best mark in MLB during this span.

Although it remains to be seen which option in center, Nimmo or Marte, gives the Mets the best defensive outfield, one thing that is certain is that this duo is expected to kickstart the team's lineup as the 1-2 hitters at the top of the order. With Nimmo and Marte as table setters, this should present Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar and the rest of the offense with plenty of chances to drive in runs.