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One of the most unpopular moves David Stearns made in the offseason was the Brandon Nimmo trade.
Seeking to get out of the last five years of Nimmo's contract, Stearns sent the popular outfielder to Texas in a trade that brought Marcus Semien back to Flushing.
Semien struggled mightily in his first few months as a Met before landing on the injured list with a hip issue.
Nimmo has put up his usual numbers for a first-place Texas team, leading Mets fans to voice their displeasure with the trade during Tuesday's game by chanting his name in the later innings of a 16-12 loss.
Those chants are a sign of frustration at the direction the season has taken and are clearly misguided.
In that same game, A.J.
Ewing went 4-for-4 with a towering home run out of the leadoff spot, Carson Benge went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Juan Soto hit a three-run homer and made one of the best defensive plays of his career.
There have been a lot of moves that are logical to criticize Stearns for, such as poor planning to replace Pete Alonso's production at first base or banking too heavily on bounce-back performances when building the 2026 team.
Trading Nimmo, however, was still the correct choice for the franchise's future.
How the Brandon Nimmo trade helped the Mets build a dynamic outfield Fans who have bashed the Nimmo trade are too locked in on the surface level of the deal, directly comparing Nimmo's production this season to Semien's.
Nimmo got off to a hot start with Texas before cooling off to a more normal level of performance, hitting .255 with eight home runs, 32 RBI, and a .732 OPS in 86 games.
That production has generated 1.5 Wins Above Replacement for Texas, putting him on pace to match the 2.9 WAR he generated last season in New York.
Semien, on the other hand, is hitting .214 with nine home runs, 19 RBI and a .613 OPS while generating -0.6 WAR.
His performance is a clear drag on the Mets as a whole.
Few expected Semien to outperform Nimmo on the field, but the idea behind trading Nimmo was not about turning him into another productive major leaguer now.
The true goal behind the Nimmo deal was making sure one outfield spot wasn't blocked long-term, allowing the team's young players, Benge and Ewing, an opportunity to reach the majors.
Benge was promised an opportunity to make the team out of camp and seized it, hitting .265 with 11 home runs, 37 RBI, and a .737 OPS entering play on Thursday.
That production has created 1.6 WAR for the Mets, meaning he is slightly outpacing Nimmo as an ascending player.
The big surprise was Ewing, who the Mets clearly didn't think would be ready for a big league opportunity as early as May.
Stearns pursued short-term stopgaps for the outfield in the offseason, making a big-money play for Kyle Tucker before pivoting to a trade for Luis Robert Jr when Tucker chose to sign with the Dodgers instead.
Ewing tore the cover off the ball to start the year at AAA Syracuse and got a shot in May when Robert's back issues forced him to the injured list.
The Mets have been absolutely thrilled by what they've gotten from the 21-year-old Ewing, who was just promoted to the leadoff spot and is batting .279 with seven home runs, 24 RBI and an .812 OPS in just 53 games.
Adding in Ewing's elite defense in center field has helped generate 1.8 WAR in just under two months, which clearly surpasses Nimmo and is a superstar like pace.
Any regrets the Mets may have from the 2021 Pete Crow-Armstrong trade appear to be gone now that they have a player with a similar archetype in center with Ewing.
There is a good chance Ewing isn't even in the major leagues if Nimmo had stuck around past this season.
The Mets would have needed Nimmo to move more to a DH role to accommodate both Benge and Ewing in the outfield, something Nimmo was reportedly hesitant to do, as he has a stated preference for playing in the field.
Once the decision was made to move Nimmo, the Mets had to find a team both willing to take on the remainder of Nimmo's contract, which could age poorly if he declines, and one he would waive his no-trade clause to go to.
The only team that fit both criteria was Texas, which unloaded Semien's contract in exchange for taking on Nimmo's deal.
Keeping Nimmo would have given you fine production in right field but likely left the Mets with Brett Baty at second base and no spot for Ewing to play in the majors.
Instead of watching Ewing blossom into a star in Flushing, the Mets would have kept some fans happy with Nimmo as Ewing crushed AAA Syracuse and represented the organization in the Futures Game, instead of Ryan Clifford.
The thought process Stearns had here with Nimmo was completely correct, as moving Nimmo allowed the Mets to set up their outfield for the next decade with Soto, Ewing, and Benge in their primes.
That is a strong foundation to build a team around, especially if Ewing becomes one of the best two-way center fielders in the majors.
That alignment would not be possible if Nimmo was still around, especially since it would have put Benge in center, which is fine but not ideal for his skill set.
Like it or not, Nimmo's presence would have held the Mets back, and Stearns made the right call by moving on when he did.
Mike Phillips is a contributor to the Mets On SI site.
Mike has been covering the Mets since 2011 for various websites, including Metstradamus and Kiners Korner.
Mike has a Masters Degree from Iona University in Sports Communications and Media and also has experience covering the NFL and college basketball on FanSided.
Mike also hosts his own New York sports based podcast.
You can follow Mike on Twitter/X and Instagram: @MPhillips331.
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