As an armchair GM, I stll maintain that flipping Semien and giving Acuna his shot at 2B is their best move. Acuna doesn't have the defensive analytics resume that Semien sports but our eyeballs showed us a lot. Semien may be "expected" to rebound at the plate is not much different than expecting Acuna to be a decent hitter, he may lack the power of Semien but adds tons of speed. Use that $26 million in 2026, $72 million over the next 3 years on a LF or SP. At some point you have to let the young guys actually play. Or is Stearns down on Acuna ... Baty had his shot ... Vientos had his shot ... but not Acuna. Luisangel may never be Ronald, but he can still be a productive MLB player.
I related to the "how do I break the news to the kids", Justin. It brought back memories of the Lenny Dykstra trade (speaking of disastrous deals). My kids loved "Nails." And to get back Juan Samuel! Yikes. It'll be hard for your kids this season, especially when they play the Rangers. Hang in there. And don't apologize for making your kids Mets fans. I never have. Some day we are all going to celebrate that World Series win and they will thank dad for making them Mets fans. I hope I am still alive when that happens.
Marcus is a fantastic defensive piece. He is a trap at second. BUT.... he is too stubborn offensively, repeatedly sticking to his program until it works in the box. Historically, Marcus is a slow starter and it's frustrating. I am excited to see Nimmo in Texas. I know he will make big contributions to the Rangers, some of which cannot be found on any stat sheet and its something the Rangers desperately need. The numbers show the blue and orange made out in the deal, but I think there is more at play than numbers with a guy like Nimmo.
The Mets’ downfall in 2025 wasn’t pitching—it was hitting. Sure, there were a few blowout games late in the season where the starters imploded, but far more often it was the close games they let slip away. Time and again, they just couldn’t push across that one or two critical runs that change everything.
So now we’re taking on another .230 hitter like Semien? That does nothing to fix the problem. It’s Cedric Mullins redux. If this team really wants to contend, they need consistent hitters—guys who can bat at least .270 and deliver in the clutch. Until then, it’s the same story on repeat.
I don't get this trade either. Marcus Semien has been a terrific player when healthy, and were he 27 years old, I'd be cheering the deal. But he's not. He's 35.
If it took sending Nimms somewhere to land a front-line starter in their prime, I'd be down with that, too. But alas, Semien isn't a pitcher.
The one thing I can hope for is Marcus rebounding at the plate. If he manages to hit .270 with 20 HR and 65 RBI in the bottom half of the order and give us a Gold Glove, then yeah, I'll give Stearns all the credit in the world for it.
As an armchair GM, I stll maintain that flipping Semien and giving Acuna his shot at 2B is their best move. Acuna doesn't have the defensive analytics resume that Semien sports but our eyeballs showed us a lot. Semien may be "expected" to rebound at the plate is not much different than expecting Acuna to be a decent hitter, he may lack the power of Semien but adds tons of speed. Use that $26 million in 2026, $72 million over the next 3 years on a LF or SP. At some point you have to let the young guys actually play. Or is Stearns down on Acuna ... Baty had his shot ... Vientos had his shot ... but not Acuna. Luisangel may never be Ronald, but he can still be a productive MLB player.
I think this is quite possible. Other than Lindor, the IF other than catcher is in flux. And that includes pitching to some extent.
I'm all in on this.
I related to the "how do I break the news to the kids", Justin. It brought back memories of the Lenny Dykstra trade (speaking of disastrous deals). My kids loved "Nails." And to get back Juan Samuel! Yikes. It'll be hard for your kids this season, especially when they play the Rangers. Hang in there. And don't apologize for making your kids Mets fans. I never have. Some day we are all going to celebrate that World Series win and they will thank dad for making them Mets fans. I hope I am still alive when that happens.
Marcus is a fantastic defensive piece. He is a trap at second. BUT.... he is too stubborn offensively, repeatedly sticking to his program until it works in the box. Historically, Marcus is a slow starter and it's frustrating. I am excited to see Nimmo in Texas. I know he will make big contributions to the Rangers, some of which cannot be found on any stat sheet and its something the Rangers desperately need. The numbers show the blue and orange made out in the deal, but I think there is more at play than numbers with a guy like Nimmo.
The Mets’ downfall in 2025 wasn’t pitching—it was hitting. Sure, there were a few blowout games late in the season where the starters imploded, but far more often it was the close games they let slip away. Time and again, they just couldn’t push across that one or two critical runs that change everything.
So now we’re taking on another .230 hitter like Semien? That does nothing to fix the problem. It’s Cedric Mullins redux. If this team really wants to contend, they need consistent hitters—guys who can bat at least .270 and deliver in the clutch. Until then, it’s the same story on repeat.
I don't get this trade either. Marcus Semien has been a terrific player when healthy, and were he 27 years old, I'd be cheering the deal. But he's not. He's 35.
If it took sending Nimms somewhere to land a front-line starter in their prime, I'd be down with that, too. But alas, Semien isn't a pitcher.
The one thing I can hope for is Marcus rebounding at the plate. If he manages to hit .270 with 20 HR and 65 RBI in the bottom half of the order and give us a Gold Glove, then yeah, I'll give Stearns all the credit in the world for it.
But what are the chances?
The trade makes perfect sense when they sign Bellinger or Tucker.