NEW YORK (AP) — Brandon Nimmo was hesitant about waiving his no-trade clause with the New York Mets but hearing the team had not talked to free agent Pete Alonso about a contract was among the factors that influenced his decision to accept a trade to the Texas Rangers.
Nimmo, who was not in the lineup for the Rangers on Tuesday night because of a lingering hamstring issue, explained some of the things that went into him agreeing to a trade from the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2011 draft.
“It definitely went into the decision-making process just because I wasn’t sure. If they were willing to trade me, then who else are they going to try and trade,” Nimmo said before Texas faced the Yankees in the opener of a three-game series. “And obviously who are they going to bring back and all that stuff.
“When Pete said they hadn’t reached out to him, there was definitely a lot uncertainty into which direction they were going. But ultimately I had to make other phone calls, and I had to talk with many more people and deliberate over and over for many more days. So, it wasn’t just his conversation that went into it. I talked with dozens of people. So, it was just a piece of the puzzle that helped in the decision-making process."
Nimmo waived his no-trade clause and was traded for Marcus Semien on Nov. 23. About three weeks later, Alonso signed a $155 million, five-year contract with the Orioles. On Friday, the first baseman said the Mets never reached out to him in free agency.
Nimmo is due annual salaries of $20.25 million each season through 2030. The left-handed hitter will get an additional $1 million assignment bonus from the Mets for waiving the no-trade provision. As part of the trade, the Mets will send Texas $5 million by Sept. 18.
“It kind of took me aback and I said well obviously I hope they do reach out to you, but they haven’t at this point then I’m going to have to make a decision based on that. And we kind of left that conversation thinking he was probably going somewhere else,” Nimmo said about Alonso. “I hadn’t really made up my mind yet, but it definitely was a factor going into it. I wasn’t really sure what I’d be coming back to.”
After hitting .262 with single-season highs of 25 homers and 92 RBIs in his final season with the Mets, Nimmo is hitting .300 with four homers and 12 RBIs in 33 Rangers games. He exited games Wednesday night and Friday night with right hamstring tightness but will avoid the injured list for now.
“It’s definitely coming along,” Nimmo said. “It’s just about trying to balance this. We’ve had this point in the schedule where we’ve been fortunate to have some off days and maybe we can grab one more here and there and be smart about it.”
While Nimmo avoided the IL, the Rangers put infielder Josh Smith on the 10-day IL due to a right glute stain. The move is retroactive to Monday for Smith, who is hitting .350 in his last seven games but .217 overall.
Texas replaced Smith on its roster by recalling infielder Justin Foscue from Triple-A Round Rock. Foscue was hitting .287 with two homers and 14 RBIs for Round Rock and has appeared in 19 games in the previous two seasons with Texas.
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