💥 BREAKING NEWS: The Mets’ bizarre blockbuster may look wild now, but it’s a move that could quietly come back to haunt the Phillies ⚡.DD
Steve Cohen is getting ready to open up his wallet.
While Philadelphia Phillies fans are still waiting for the first moves of the offseason, the division rival New York Mets got busy on Sunday evening. As broken by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Mets sent outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien.
Trading away Nimmo didn’t just subtract the longest-tenured Met of 10 seasons, it also opened up a spot in the Mets’ outfield. Possibly for New York to seriously pursue Kyle Tucker, the top free agent hitter on the market. Or maybe Cody Bellinger.
The Mets are taking on the $72 million remaining on Semien’s contract for his age 35-37 seasons. The trade-off, as Anthony DiComo notes, is that acquiring Semien helps the Mets improve their defense and increases their roster flexibility.
DiComo reports that the Mets are considering all options in the outfield, from using internal choices like Jeff McNeil or No. 2 prospect Carson Benge to going after one of the big free-agent outfielders like Tucker or Bellinger. According to his source, the Mets are considering all of those avenues.
Mets’ trade means Phillies might have to deal with Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger in NL East
Obviously, the Mets landing Tucker would be bad news for the Phillies and the rest of the NL East. Bellinger wouldn’t have as big an impact but would still make the Mets much better. Either way, this trade isn’t great news for the Phillies.
Tucker is easily the biggest free agent position player on the market this winter. The Phillies have been connected to the five-tool outfielder already, as well. But that rumor always comes with the caveat that they’d have to lose Kyle Schwarber to make a serious push for Tucker.
Instead, now there’s a clear path for Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns to spend more big money this offseason as they try to shake up the core of a team that embarrassingly missed the postseason.
In his analysis of the deal, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand notes that this trade clearly puts Tucker and Bellinger in the Mets’ sights.
“Trading Nimmo certainly creates a vacancy in the Mets’ outfield,” Feinsand writes. “And given that the widespread belief was that they were already planning on making a push for Tucker and/or Bellinger, this deal makes it all but certain that they will try to sign one of those two outfielders.”
We all know that Cohen isn’t afraid to spend big money. He handed the richest contract to Juan Soto last offseason and looks poised to do what he can to add to the payroll this time around. Despite a strong debut year from Soto, the Mets folded like a cheap suit. That couldn’t have sat well with Cohen, which makes him and the Mets all that more dangerous this offseason.
