Brandon Nimmo chose comfort zone in re-signing with Mets
Brandon Nimmo gives remarks at a news conference announcing his re-signing to the Mets at Citi Field, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. Credit: Corey Sipkin
For Brandon Nimmo, the Mets were always the endgame.
He did what he was supposed to do in recent weeks, meeting with and fielding offers from other clubs, imagining what his life, career and family would look like on those teams and in those cities, seriously considering what they had to give. But along the way something funny happened: In those conversations with prospective employers, he caught himself referring to himself and the Mets in the first person, the way “we” did things.
“And then I’d be like, OK, well, that’s how the Mets did things,” Nimmo explained.
Oops. What he was looking for was here the whole time. He belonged in Queens. The Mets made it happen last week with an eight-year contract worth $162 million, which the parties gathered to commemorate with a news conference at Citi Field on Thursday.
As he slipped on a blue Mets No. 9 jersey over his orange tie and blue suit pants for the usual photo op, his daydream of eventually having that number retired alongside those of the greatest players in franchise history felt a little more real. The goal of spending his whole career with one organization is less a fantasy and closer to a contractual reality. He’ll be 37 years old — and 15 seasons into his big-league career — by the time this deal is done.
“We were trying to figure out, where do we want to spend our future?” Nimmo said, this time referring to him and his wife, Chelsea, who sat in the first row. “We’re so glad that it ended up with the Mets and we get to be in a place that we’re really comfortable with.
“It is something that went into our decision-making process, that we’ve already built a career here, we know what to expect here. Again, the being comfortable side of things. And also trying to put a legacy down as well. We definitely did talk about that in the decision-making process and how cool that would be.”
It was a triumphant moment for the player and the team that drafted and developed him. As the Mets’ first-round pick in 2011, their first selection under Sandy Alderson, Nimmo was enough of a wild card — a skinny kid from Wyoming, a state with no high school baseball — that when he first showed up to the Mets’ facility upon signing, then-owner Fred Wilpon asked his scouting staff: Are you sure this is the right guy?
Skepticism has been a theme of Nimmo’s decade-plus since. But he has answered every question with an exclamation point.
Could he hit lefthanded pitchers? Yep, once he got the chance to show it.
Could he play centerfield? Very much so, especially after he improved his agility and positioning.
Could he stay healthy and on the field? He proved as much last season when he played through a variety of physical issues to get into 151 games.
“Hard work pays off. It’s nice to know that that still exists, that you don’t just have to stick with the labels that you’re given early on,” Nimmo said in October, the day before the Mets’ season ended. “If you work hard enough, if you really put your mind to something, you can accomplish great things. I’ve been able to do that a little bit. I’m very, very proud of that. Don’t always believe the labels that people put on you.”
During negotiations with the Mets, another question popped up. It was the kind any team has to ask itself prior to making this sort of commitment to any player, including its homegrown centerfielder/leadoff hitter.
“One of the things that we talk about when we’re going to extend a longer-term deal to a player is: Can we trust him with the contract?” general manager Billy Eppler said. “Can we trust his intentions? Can we trust the type of player, not only what he brings on the field, which is All-Star ability on both sides of the inning, but can we trust the intentions? Can we trust the heart of the player?”
Manager Buck Showalter added later: “There’s a pure heart there.”
As he mulled his options for this major life decision, Nimmo had two primary priorities, aside from the obvious/financial: He wanted to be comfortable, which he knew he would be in New York, and he wanted a chance to win every year, their commitment to which the Mets underscored with their spending spree before Nimmo agreed to return.
So with his choice all but made in the middle of last week, they just needed to agree on the terms. Owner Steve Cohen — who Scott Boras, Nimmo’s agent, said called early in the process to discuss “at length” his desire to keep Nimmo — got re-involved. It didn’t take long after that.
Nimmo and the Mets are a "we" again.
“It feels good to put this jersey back on,” Nimmo said, “and know it’s not coming off."
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
