Where will Brandon Nimmo land in the lineup in 2025?

Also, the Mets brought Sean Manaea back, plus news from the weekend

What’s up with the Mets? 🍎

• Over the weekend the Mets signed LHP Anthony Gose and RHP Luis Ortiz to minor league deals with invitations to big league spring training

• Former Met, all-time great and Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson passed away on Saturday at the age of 65 (story)

• The Mets luxury tax bill for 2024 was $97,115,609. They were among nine clubs to pay a total of $311.3 million in penalties this past season, up from $209.8 million from 2023 (AP)

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Rumor Mill 💨

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won’t negotiate an extension with the Blue Jays beyond the first day of spring training (Sportsnet)

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What’s Brandon Nimmo’s lineup role going to be in 2025?✍️

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

For the vast majority of his nearly decade-long Major League career, Brandon Nimmo was a fixture in the leadoff spot for the Mets. New York’s first-round pick from the 2011 draft has established a well-earned reputation as an on-base machine. He’s delivered three seasons with an OBP north of .400, consistently draws more than 70 walks, and after some injury issues early in his career has been able to stay off the injured list for three years running.

Nimmo began 2024 again in the Mets lineup, but with the offense sputtering early on, manager Carlos Mendoza made the much-publicized decision to move shortstop Francisco Lindor to the leadoff spot.

And we all know how that turned out.

That move shifted Nimmo to unfamiliar territory. Instead of being asked to set the table, he was now being counted on to be a run producer. He himself would probably tell you it’s fair to say he experienced mixed results in that role.

His .224/.337/.399 slash line was a far cry from his .261/.371/.438 career mark. He did hit 23 home runs, but after a pair of 30 double campaigns he saw a decline in both two-base hits and triples.

On the positive side, Nimmo drove in 90 runs, which set a new career high by a wide margin. He also committed to using his legs more, swiping 15 bases in 15 attempts, and was often able to be a de facto table setter in the middle of the line-up.

Heading into 2025, we all expect the Mets offense to be exciting, but I am curious how Mendoza and his staff intend to deploy Nimmo.

After the resounding success he enjoyed in the top spot in the Mets order last season, it would be crazy to move Lindor out of that role.

The majority of the time down the stretch last season, the Mets went with a top of the lineup like this:

1. Lindor

2. Mark Vientos

3. Nimmo

4. Pete Alonso

That gave the team an alternating (S)/R/L/R at the top, and the Mets enjoyed a great deal of offensive success throughout the summer and into October.

While some personnel questions remain to be answered—namely, the free-agent status of Alonso—the best guess is that the Mets will utilize a similar strategy this coming season. With one Juan Soto-sized exception.

But what has me thinking as we sit here today is where Nimmo will fit in. If we can rightfully assume Lindor hits leadoff, Soto and Vientos hit 2nd and 3rd (or flip-flopped), and Alonso ultimately comes back to reassume his clean-up position, that’s a really, really potent 1-4.

Does Nimmo just slide into the 5th spot? Or would the Mets look to bring in another big bat—Alex Bregman?—that could help them get creative with the DH position?

I wouldn’t totally hate having Nimmo hit down in the order and essentially serve as a table setter for the top. But the way the team is currently constructed just shy of Christmas, there are not enough offensive difference-makers to push him out of 5th.

We obviously are still a few weeks away from spring training, so these questions will be answered soon enough, but is the season for speculation, conversation, and line-up construction? That is always something that I’ve found interesting.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Phillies acquired LHP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins in exchange for IF Starlyn Caba and OF Emaarion Boyd (Official)

• Philadelphia DFA’d southpaw Tyler Gilbert to create room for Luzardo on the 40-man roster (Official)

• The Athletics added LHP Ben Bowden on a minor league agreement

  (Transactions tracker)

• The Nationals swung a trade with Texas to bring veteran first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to D.C. (Passan)

• The Rangers added left handed swinging OF/DH Joc Pederson as a free-agent (Rosenthal)

• Wil Myers has announced his retirement from baseball (MLB.com)