Category: Baseball

Like millions of New Yorkers, Devin Williams took the subway to work this year. He genuinely enjoyed getting on the 4 train to the Bronx before every home game. Towering at 6-foot-2, he somehow went unnoticed in the large crowds packing the platform several hours before first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

Following Monday night’s deal, Williams secured the opportunity to continue that routine on a different subway line to a different borough. The 31-year-old reliever reportedly signed a three-year contract worth $45 million, plus bonuses, with the New York Mets, where he will look to start fresh and re-establish himself as the high-octane reliever he once was with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Williams, and his patented airbender changeup, recorded a razor-thin 1.83 ERA across six seasons with the Brewers before he was traded to the Yankees in Dec. 2024. The Bronx Bombers believed they were getting a fearless, high-profile closer who would dominate opposing lineups and deliver saves in New York. But, for much of the season, their Devin Williams Experience was an unpredictable roller coaster. In April, he posted a 9.00 ERA in 12 relief appearances. In May and June, he improved to a 2.66 ERA in 22 outings. He struggled again in July, recording a 5.73 ERA in 11 appearances before stabilizing himself as a setup man, like he was for Josh Hader in Milwaukee. Williams finished the season with 13 consecutive scoreless outings, including four shutout innings in the playoffs, with all those coming in setup roles.

There is still a ton of upside to the overall quality of his pitches. Williams is a former Rookie of the Year and two-time recipient of the National League Reliever of the Year award. Despite his rocky season in the Bronx, his strikeout rate remained elite. His 2.68 FIP compared to his 4.79 season ERA suggested he ran into some poor luck and weak defense. The Mets, for their part, are aiming to correct both of those departments.

Here is what’s next for the Mets, Yankees, and the relief-pitching market after Williams’ new three-year pact in Queens:

What’s next for the Mets

Much like the Mets’ trade for second baseman Marcus Semien, their deal for Williams is something of a two-parter. The Semien deal will make more sense when or if the team fills the hole Brandon Nimmo left behind in the outfield. And the signing for Williams will look better if closer Edwin Diaz comes back to Queens. 

The Mets are still interested in re-signing Diaz, the top relief pitcher on the market, even after their three-year contract with Williams. You might wonder if it’s realistic to believe the Mets would spend north of $100 million on two relievers alone this offseason, while continuing their pursuit of free-agent first baseman Pete Alonso. But these are the Steve Cohen-owned Mets, where anything is fiscally possible and logic often defies reason. 

Plus, the Mets bullpen was one of its weaknesses this past season, particularly down the stretch. Adding Williams for a high-leverage role, which could include either setting up for someone like Diaz or another top closer on the market, already makes the bullpen better than where it ranked a few months ago. Still, the possibility of Diaz walking away in free agency and Williams becoming the Mets closer is on the table. In that event, give credit to the Mets for creating a reliable parachute rather than waiting for Diaz, watching relievers fly off the board, and being caught with their tail between their legs.

Williams still has elite stuff, and he recalibrated down the stretch for the Yankees. No matter what, the Mets acquired a top high-leverage reliever who overcame the challenge of pitching in New York, and is ready to serve in whatever role the team needs. Now, the Mets need to focus on bringing the trumpets back to Citi Field.

What’s next for the Yankees

Even though Williams improved on the mound in a setup role to Luke Weaver and David Bednar in the final month-plus of the Yankees season, he never looked truly comfortable in pinstripes. And the Yankees never seemed interested in bringing him back. In fact, it would’ve been more of a surprise if Williams re-signed with the Yankees rather than walk away. So his decision to bounce from the Bronx is hardly altering general manager Brian Cashman’s blueprint for the bullpen this offseason. Now, how will the Yankees pivot, and what do they have planned?

Outside of Trent Grisham accepting his $22 million qualifying offer to stay in the Bronx and re-signing left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough, it’s so far been a sleepy winter for the Yankees. That being said, there is plenty of offseason left, and Cashman has to make a slurry of moves to fill the many vacancies in his bullpen. Weaver, Mark Leiter Jr., Ian Hamilton, Jonathan Loaisiga, Scott Effross, and Jake Cousins all entered free agency this offseason. 

Who’s left? The Yankees have one more year remaining with closer David Bednar before he hits free agency next winter. Behind Bednar, the club will deploy Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, Fernando Cruz, and Yarbrough in some capacity. The Yankees should be in the mix for a high-leverage reliever to fill out their bullpen. Paring Bednar with either Diaz or free agent Robert Suarez would make for a formidable back of the bullpen. Either way, their sights should be set on an elite acquisition. 

What’s next for the reliever market

It’s a good time to be a proven relief pitcher right now. Williams joined Ryan Helsley as two back-end relievers who received major multi-year deals coming off of 4.00-plus ERA walk years. In both cases, Williams and Helsley still had solid underlying metrics despite their high season ERAs. Helsley struggled for the Mets after the trade deadline, recording a 7.20 ERA with pitch-tipping issues in 22 relief appearances, and he still secured two years and $28 million from the Orioles this offseason.

Diaz remains the top free-agent reliever on the market, followed by Suarez, who is coming off an NL-best 40-save season for the Padres. The next tier of free-agent relievers with closing experience includes Pete Fairbanks, Tyler Rogers, Emilio Pagan, Kenley Jansen, with Weaver and Kyle Finnegan right behind them. The Blue Jays and Yankees remain big players in the relief market, a department that’s had a scorching start so far this offseason. 

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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New Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray, acquired from St. Louis last week, is making himself right at home with the team’s fan base by immediately blasting Boston’s biggest rival.

“It’s easy to go to a place now where it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” Gray told the Boston press core on Tuesday, according to The Boston Globe.

Gray was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Yankees at the 2017 MLB trade deadline. While he held his own in his time with the franchise in 2017 (3.72 ERA in 11 regular-season starts), the right-hander posted a 4.90 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with the Yankees in 2018, and New York dealt Gray to the Cincinnati Reds in the ensuing offseason.

Gray earned an All-Star nod in his first season with the Reds and has earned such honors three times in his career (2015, 2019 and 2023). Last season, Gray posted a 4.28 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 201 strikeouts in 180.2 innings pitched (32 starts) with the Cardinals.

Gray, who said that he “never wanted to go” to the Yankees, expressed he’s “more Boston than any other place” and that his decision to waive his no-trade clause was an “immediate yes” because the Red Sox “have a chance to win the World Series.”

Boston acquired the 36-year-old Gray on Nov. 25 for left-hander Brandon Clarke, right-hander Richard Fitts and either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Gray is entering the final season of a three-year, $75 million deal that includes a mutual option for 2027. He joins a Red Sox starting rotation that includes 2025 American League Cy Young Award runner-up Garrett Crochet and emerging right-hander Brayan Bello (3.35 ERA in 29 appearances/28 starts in 2025). As a whole, Boston’s rotation posted a collective 3.92 ERA last season, good for 12th in MLB.

The Red Sox (89-73) went 9-4 against the Yankees in the 2025 regular season, but New York returned the favor in the postseason, defeating Boston in the wild-card round.

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Free agent reliever Devin Williams has agreed to a contract with the New York Mets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Monday night.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical and had not been announced.

Multiple media reports indicated the sides agreed to a three-year contract.

Williams spent last season across town with the New York Yankees, going 4-6 with a career-worst 4.79 ERA and 18 saves in 22 chances. He lost the closer’s job, regained it and then lost it again before finishing the year with four scoreless outings during the American League playoffs.

The 31-year-old right-hander is a two-time All-Star who twice won the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award with the Milwaukee Brewers. He also was voted the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year.

Milwaukee traded Williams to the Yankees for pitcher Nestor Cortes and infielder Caleb Durbin last December.

With the Mets, Williams could replace free agent closer Edwin Diaz or complement him in a rebuilt bullpen.

Williams was pitching for the Brewers when he gave up a go-ahead homer to Mets slugger Pete Alonso in the deciding Game 3 of their 2024 NL Wild Card Series. The three-run shot put New York ahead in the ninth inning.

Known for his deceptive changeup, Williams struck out 90 batters and walked 25 in 62 innings over 67 appearances during his lone season with the Yankees.

Reporting by The Associated Press. 

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The NFL is as much of a fixture on Thanksgiving Day as tolerating stories from your in-laws while having to munch on overcooked turkey, but MLB entered the holiday chat 20 years ago.

On November 24, 2005, the Boston Red Sox and then-Florida Marlins – who won the 2004 and 2003 World Series, respectively – executed a blockbuster trade with substantial ramifications.

Here are the details of the trade and how the move panned out for both clubs:

The Trade

Boston Red Sox receive: RHP Josh Beckett, 3B Mike Lowell and RHP Guillermo Mota
Florida Marlins receive: SS Hanley Ramirez, RHP Anibal Sanchez, RHP Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia

How the Trade Fared for Boston

Just one year removed from winning their first World Series in 86 years, Boston made the bold move for, most notably, the MVP of the 2003 World Series in Beckett and one of the best third basemen in the sport in Lowell.

Roughly two years after the trade, the Red Sox won the 2007 World Series. After a rocky first year in Boston, Beckett, the No. 2 pick in the 1999 MLB Draft, rebounded in 2007, posting a 3.27 ERA, an American League-best 6.5 wins above replacement among pitchers and winning 20 games. He followed that up by posting a mere 1.20 ERA and 0.70 WHIP in four starts in the 2007 postseason. The esteemed right-hander was up and down across his six-plus seasons in Boston overall, but Beckett still managed to earn three All-Star nods and post at least 5 WAR in each of those seasons (2007, 2009 and 2011). 

Across his first four years with the Red Sox, Lowell was a consistent force at the plate, averaging 18.8 home runs and 87 RBIs per season, while posting a combined .295/.350/.479 slash line. Furthermore, after hitting .324, driving in a team-high 120 runs and earning an All-Star nod in the 2007 regular season, the steady, right-handed hitter went off in the postseason, driving in 15 runs, posting a .353/.410/.608 slash line and winning 2007 World Series MVP honors.

Beckett finished his MLB career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014 after being traded by the Red Sox in 2012; Lowell’s last season in Boston, 2010, was his last in the sport; Mota ultimately never pitched for the Red Sox, as he was moved in a separate trade two months later.

How the Trade Fared for Miami

A young star pitcher and a third baseman in his prime are difficult to replace, but the Marlins, who made this trade with the intention of shedding payroll, got a pair of reputable players for Beckett and Lowell.

Ramirez quickly became one of the most electric players in MLB after being called up full-time in 2006, a year which saw the shortstop win National League Rookie of the Year honors. He swung an impact bat from the right side, flew around the basepaths and was a star. From 2006-10, Ramirez averaged 24.8 home runs, 77.8 RBIs, 39.2 stolen bases and a 5.2 WAR per season and posted a combined .313/.385/.521 slash line. Ramirez earned three All-Star nods, two Silver Slugger awards and won the 2009 NL batting title with the Marlins, hitting .342 and posting a career-best 7.4 WAR. The Marlins traded Ramirez to the Dodgers during the 2012 season with the shortstop, ironically, later joining the Red Sox for the 2015 season as a free agent.

Sanchez made his MLB debut in 2006 and would later emerge as a reliable, middle-to-top-of-the-rotation arm for Florida. The finesse starter habitually worked out of trouble and recorded a combined 3.66 ERA with the Marlins from 2009-11 before being traded to the Detroit Tigers during the 2012 season. Elsewhere, Delgado only made two MLB appearances out of the bullpen for the Marlins, while Garcia made just eight.

Of course, the Florida Marlins – who became the Miami Marlins in the 2012 season – didn’t make the playoffs for 17 years (2020) following their 2003 World Series triumph, while Boston has won three titles since the trade, in 2007, 2013 and 2018.

Sports are brutal.

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It’s not just ovens experiencing blistering heat this holiday season. The stove is sizzling hot after the first major free agent flew off the board on Thanksgiving eve. 

Right-hander Dylan Cease reportedly signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on a massive seven-year, $210 million contract that will take him through his age-36 season. Cease, the top starting pitcher on the market this winter, has eclipsed more than 200 strikeouts and at least 32 starts in each of the past five seasons. These days, that type of durability is unheard of. No other pitcher in the majors has completed more than three 200-strikeout seasons in the past five years. 

Cease recorded the highest swing-and-miss rate (33.4%) in the majors for the Padres this year, even as his overall numbers were more underwhelming (4.55 ERA, career-high 21 home runs allowed) with familiar command issues in his walk year. Still, Cease is one year removed from finishing fourth in Cy Young award voting, and his 3.56 FIP and 3.43 expected ERA suggests he ran into some bad luck and poor defense in San Diego this past season.

Weak defense shouldn’t be a problem in Canada. Cease joins a dynamic Blue Jays team hungry to finish the job after their booming World Series appearance that forced a Game 7 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cease’s long-term pact is the largest pitching contract in franchise history. Let it be known: the Jays aren’t messing around.

Here’s what next for the Blue Jays, Padres, and the starting-pitching market after Cease’s deal: 

What’s next for Toronto

The defending American League champions got their front-of-the-rotation starter nearly two weeks before the winter meetings, showing the high level of aggression that many in the industry expected from the Blue Jays after their successful run to the Fall Classic. Cease’s 29.8% strikeout rate was the third-highest among all qualified major-league pitchers this year. Only Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet induced strikeouts at a higher clip in 2025. Cease’s elite whiff rate is exactly what the Blue Jays needed to add firepower to the rotation. 

With Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt departing for free agency, the Blue Jays had an obvious need for a top starting pitcher this offseason. Cease boosts a strong rotation led by Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios, and Shane Bieber, who unexpectedly opted in with the Blue Jays for $16 million in 2026 just days after falling to the Dodgers in the World Series. At the time, Bieber’s decision seemed like it could be the best news of Toronto’s offseason — particularly with his salary being a steal for the team. But it turned out the Jays front office had a bolder commitment in mind. 

Gausman and Bieber will become free agents after the 2026 season, so Cease’s long-term deal will help keep the Blue Jays in contention beyond next year. While the rotation looks set for Toronto, the organization still has to re-sign its headlining free-agent: homegrown shortstop Bo Bichette. The Blue Jays are committed to spending big this winter after getting a taste of the biggest stage in baseball. The megadeal for Cease shouldn’t stop them from securing Bichette, who is mutually interested in staying up north. 

What’s next for San Diego

Cease helped lead the Padres to the playoffs in each of his two seasons in San Diego, and it’s unclear how they’ll aim to fill his void. But it’s not as if this is a surprise. They floated his name at July’s trade deadline before opting to retain him, and his scoreless outing against the Cubs in the National League Wild Card series was always expected to be his last start for the Padres. Cease’s departure is part of why this offseason is so uncertain for the Friars. 

Besides the Baltimore Orioles, arguably no other contender needs starting pitching more than San Diego. In addition to Cease, the rotation also lost right-hander Michael King to free agency. Yu Darvish will miss the entire season due to elbow surgery, which is his second major elbow operation and could be career-ending. Joe Musgrove, at least, will return from his 2024 Tommy John surgery, but it’s anyone’s guess how effective he’ll be after missing the 2025 season and how long it will take to find his form. As of now, Nick Pivetta will begin the season as their ace after he recorded a career-best 2.87 ERA in 31 starts for San Diego this year.

In addition to the precarious state of the rotation, the Padres have the challenge of competing in the cutthroat NL West under new rookie manager Craig Stammen — all under the backdrop of a potential franchise sale. Outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr.’s name has been floated in trade talks this offseason as the Padres try to balance multiple high-cost agreements, particularly given the exorbitant long-term contracts of Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts. Despite all the moving parts and question marks surrounding the club, acquiring an established starter to stabilize the rotation remains the Padres’ biggest need. 

What’s next for the starting-pitching market

With the top arm off the board and headed to Canada for the next seven seasons, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, King, Tatsuya Imai, Nick Martinez, Bassitt, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are among the upper-tier free-agent starters still looking to be signed before Opening Day rolls around. We have seen the starting-pitching market gain traction in recent days, with Sonny Gray going to the Red Sox and Grayson Rodriguez going to the Angels. All of that movement could force other contenders to get impatient and show more urgency for a top arm before it’s too late. Expect fierce competition for the top-flight starters remaining, especially Valdez, Suarez and King.

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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Boston’s rotation already featured an ace who had finished second this year in American League Cy Young Award voting. Now, the Red Sox have added another former AL Cy Young runner-up to pair with Garrett Crochet. 

The Red Sox bolstered their rotation a week ahead of the winter meetings by acquiring veteran right-hander Sonny Gray from the Cardinals on Tuesday. In return, a rebuilding St. Louis club under new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom will receive one of Boston’s top pitching prospects in 2024 fifth-round pick Brandon Clarke and an MLB-ready rotation depth piece in Richard Fitts. 

Gray is a couple of years removed from a 2023 All-Star season in Minnesota in which he tallied a 2.79 ERA and finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting. His ERA has ascended since then in his two years in St. Louis — 3.84 in 2024, 4.28 in 2025 — but the durable 36-year-old is coming off back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons and an NL-best 5.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2025. 

Here’s what’s next after Gray’s departure for Boston: 

What’s next for the Red Sox

Boston employs one of MLB’s most talented arms in Crochet, but the Red Sox needed another pitcher they could reliably give the ball to in a playoff game. Gray, who has a 3.26 ERA in six career playoff starts, fits the bill. He should now slot in as the team’s No. 2 starter. 

He won’t cost the Red Sox the full amount he was due — St. Louis is also sending $20 million to Boston to help offset Gray’s salary — so this opportunity makes a lot of sense for a Red Sox team that needed more stability in the rotation as it attempts to build on its first playoff appearance since 2021. 

The Red Sox have some high-upside depth options to round out the rotation even beyond 26-year-old Brayan Bello, who had a 3.35 ERA in 2025. Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval are both expected back in 2026 after missing last year to injury, and 23-year-old prospects Connelly Early and Payton Tolle could compete with 24-year-old Kyle Harrison for a starting role. This should just be the start, though, as there is still work to do in bolstering the bullpen and adding another impact bat with third baseman Alex Bregman now a free agent. 

What’s next for the Cardinals

Could veteran slugger Nolan Arenado (finally) be next to go? This is Bloom’s first trade of note as he attempts to chart a new path forward for a Cardinals team that has been stuck in neutral, missing the playoffs each of the last three years and making it no further than the wild-card round over the past six years. 

The Cardinals might still be good enough to field a competitive roster in 2026 — they’ve hovered close to .500 each of the last two years — but the immediate future seems to be centered on figuring out which young players (and especially which young arms) could be part of the next great St. Louis team. 

Clarke, 22, is a longer-term play and will be worth keeping an eye on as the Cardinals try to improve their player development under new leadership. The left-hander brings high-90s velocity and a wipeout slider that give him a high ceiling, but the development of his arsenal and control could determine whether he’ll be an MLB-caliber starter or a potential bullpen weapon down the line. He struck out 43 batters in 28.1 innings at High-A Greenville last year, but he also surrendered 25 free passes. 

Fitts, who made 10 starts for Boston in 2025, gives St. Louis some necessary rotation depth after losing Gray. The Cardinals will see if 26-year-old Matthew Liberatore and 25-year-old Michael McGreevy, both starters in last year’s rotation, can take a step forward. They have other young depth pieces who could get an opportunity, but they will likely need to add at least one more experienced arm. 

What’s next for Gray

Gray waived his no-trade clause for the chance to play for a winner in Boston. He was going to make $35 million in 2026 in the final season of a backloaded three-year, $75 million deal in St. Louis, and his original contract had a team option for $30 million in 2027. Now, that deal is reportedly being reworked. He’ll make $31 million next year with a mutual buyout option of $10 million. (Mutual options rarely get exercised, so he’s likely to make $41 million in 2026.) A slightly better payday, and a better chance to get back to the postseason for the first time in three years, had to be enticing. 

While Gray is not the same standout he was in Minnesota, he’s still plenty productive. He had a career-high whiff rate in 2024 and set career-best marks in K/BB, walk rate and chase rate in 2025. His sweeper remains a weapon — opponents hit .150 with 111 strikeouts against the pitch — which is all the more important as the velocity on his low-90s fastball wanes. His plus control and secondary offerings should allow him to remain an effective starter as he enters his late-30s, and his ability to eat up innings will take pressure off Crochet to shoulder the load. 

What’s next in the starting pitching market?

With Gray going to the Red Sox and Grayson Rodriguez going to the Angels, we’ve already seen some early action in the starting pitching market. And yet, all the top free-agent starters remain available. Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Dylan Cease, Michael King, Zac Gallen and Japanese standout Tatsuya Imai are among the top options for the many playoff-caliber teams searching for impact arms. 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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Early this year, as Mets players poured into Port St. Lucie, Fla. for the start of spring training, president of baseball operations David Stearns was fielding questions about naming the next team captain. Brandon Nimmo, the Mets’ homegrown outfielder who was drafted by the organization in 2011, was a part of that discussion. 

It was only fair, since Nimmo was the longest-tenured Met before he agreed to waive his no-trade clause on Sunday, authorizing the club to send him to Texas in exchange for veteran All-Star infielder Marcus Semien. The shocking trade removed a clubhouse leader and fan favorite from New York, and added a defensive upgrade with a championship pedigree at second base. 

Between the time of those team captain conversations and the blockbuster trade, the Mets suffered a historic collapse from first place and failed to qualify for the playoffs this year. Stearns didn’t mince words on Monday when explaining why he broke up the team’s core. “Running back the exact same group wasn’t the right thing to do,” he said. 

The Mets will take on the remainder of Semien’s contract (he’s owed $72 million through 2028), while relinquishing the long-term financial obligation tying them to Nimmo ($102.5 million remaining through 2030), an eight-year contract that was designed by former general manager Billy Eppler in December 2022. 

Nimmo, in a social-media post on Monday afternoon, bid farewell to a legacy that had a lasting impact in Queens, saying, “There is truly no way I could adequately put into words how much my tenure with the Mets has meant to me … The last 14 years have felt like a dream.” The 32-year-old Wyoming native leaves the Mets with the sixth-most runs scored in team history. He ranks eighth in on-base percentage, ninth in home runs, and 10th in total bases and doubles. Though he didn’t win a championship with his homegrown team, fans will always remember Nimmo as a consummate pro who gave his all for the franchise. 

Here’s what’s next for each team, and Semien’s future impact, after the fascinating trade:

What’s next for the Mets?

Semien’s addition to the Mets infield addresses Stearns’ stated goal of improving run prevention. The 35-year-old, after winning his second-career Gold Glove award this year, is expected to be their full-time second baseman, a position that has become a revolving door in recent years, with the team prioritizing Jeff McNeil’s positional versatility. Semien will give the Mets an everyday, reliable option at second base, and his glove has remained a huge asset of his overall skillset (more on that later). 

Mainly, though, removing Nimmo from their outfield plans allows the Mets to go after top-flight free-agent outfielders this winter. They should be all-in on a potential bidding war for Cody Bellinger, whom the Yankees also want to re-sign, as well as in the mix for Kyle Tucker. Stearns on Monday said, “Anything would be realistic right now,” regarding the team’s financial flexibility and spending big in free agency. In other words, even if the Mets re-sign their top free agents, first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz, that will not preclude them from going after Bellinger/Tucker to fill their void in left field.

Still, how does Semien’s new role on the team impact McNeil’s usage? Stearns spoke to McNeil on Sunday night in part to ensure that, going forward, the veteran infielder is comfortable spending time at a corner-outfield position and even at first base, if needed. Even so, it remains unclear how New York’s younger infielders, including Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio, fit into the bigger picture next year. The Mets have an abundance of MLB-ready infielders now, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they dipped into that pool for more trades this offseason.

What’s next for the Rangers?

Before agreeing to the trade, Nimmo confirmed with Texas that the club was still committed to winning a championship. “This wasn’t a rebuild that I was coming into,” Nimmo said in a Zoom conference with reporters on Monday. “This was somewhere that I was extremely wanted, and they made that abundantly clear. And in the next five years, we would be competing for World Series titles, year in and year out.”

If subtracting Semien from the equation does not signal an immediate rebuild for the Rangers, then Nimmo’s addition to the lineup is expected to improve an offense that ranked 26th in slugging this past year. Nimmo recorded career highs in home runs (25), RBI (92), and hard-hit rate (50.2%) in 2025 — while his on-base percentage (.324) and walk rate (7.7%) both hit career lows. When healthy, Nimmo is a productive left-handed bat who will essentially take over for outfielder Adolis Garcia, who was non-tendered by the Rangers to become a free agent last week. 

It will be interesting to see how the Rangers navigate the rest of their offseason, particularly since president of baseball operations Chris Young is leading an effort to cut payroll while, apparently, keeping their goals of winning a championship intact. 

Can Semien rebound offensively?

The quick and short answer is, don’t count on it. Semien recorded career lows in batting average (.230), slugging percentage (.364), and OPS (.669) in 2025 – pointing to an offensive decline for the former two-time Silver Slugger as he approaches his age-35 season. Stearns said that Semien “can contribute to winning baseball in a variety of different ways, and the bat may not actually lead the way at this point in his career.” Rather, the Mets are counting on the veteran to bring his sparkling defensive ability to New York, a strength of his longtime career that so far has not diminished. 

Semien appeared in 127 games for the Rangers in 2025 and recorded 7 Outs Above Average and 5 Defensive Runs Saved, per Statcast, to go with a career-best .996 fielding percentage. For comparison, McNeil appeared in 106 games at second base for the Mets in 2025 and recorded 4 OAA and 3 DRS to go with a .983 fielding percentage. Semien is not the answer for how the Mets will replace Nimmo’s offensive production, but the veteran will pair up with shortstop Francisco Lindor for a sharper duo up the middle.

In addition to his defensive acumen, the Mets also like Semien’s makeup. He takes his craft seriously, has an elite work ethic, practices hard and, notably, Stearns mentioned that Semien holds his teammates to those same expectations and how that will “fit in very well for our group.” The Mets traded away a clubhouse leader in Nimmo, but they’re replacing him with another high-character individual in Semien who has been well-regarded by teammates going back to his days playing for Oakland a decade ago. His tireless mentality and drive to win should bode well in a Mets clubhouse that has, at times, lacked the required urgency to be successful over the course of the long baseball season.

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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