Let's Make a Deal: MLB Offseason Edition

The offseason means one thing: teams making deals and acquiring the best players. Spring Training is nearly two months away, so baseball will return before you know it. Whether or not Pete Alonso will be in a different uniform for the 2026 MLB regular season is uncertain and speaking of the Mets, the following blockbuster trade that was recently made caught everyone by surprise. The New York Mets traded outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for three-time All-Star and World Series champion Marcus Semien. While many Rangers fans wished the second baseman well, others were disappointed. However, at the end of the day, a player being traded is business. It's nothing personal. In an Instagram post, Nimmo, 32, thanked Mets fans for welcoming him to the Big Apple.

Who is Brandon Nimmo?

Brandon Tate Nimmo was born on March 27, 1993, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Mets selected him with the thirteenth pic in the 2011 MLB Draft. Nimmo made his MLB debut in June 2016 with the New York Mets, where he would spend all of his 10 seasons there. During Nimmo's time with the Mets his stats were as follows:

.262 batting average, 135 home runs, 463 RBI, and .802 OPS in 1,066 games with the ball club

The reaction to the outfielder being traded to Texas from Mets fans was positive, sending him well wishes.

Before I share my thoughts about Brandon Nimmo being a Texas Ranger, here's some stats from their 2025 season:

The Rangers finished with an 81-81 record, which was third in the competitive American League West. They finished first in the league with a 3.47 ERA, 22nd in runs scored with 684, and 26th in batting average (.234).

I believe that Brandon Nimmo will help us win games and make a positive difference to our offense. The Rangers missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year, mostly due to the disastrous finish to the regular season. They were in the the Wild Card chase at one point during the second half of the season, being as close as a game and a half behind the Mariners for the final playoff spot, but an atrocious finish to the month of September did them in. The lack of runs being scored in the first half of the season was among the issues the injury-plagued Rangers had to address, which they did by firing offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker and hiring Bret Boone, the brother of Aaron Boone. The Rangers haven't been in the Postseason since their 2023 World Series win and haven't won the AL West since 2016. I predicted that they'll clinch a playoff berth in 2026. It doesn't mean that winning the division is out of the question. It all depends on the number of moves the Rangers are willing to make during the offseason. Acquiring Brandon Nimmo is a start, but we need more arms. Even though the Rangers finished the season with the best ERA in the entire league, there's always room for improvement. It's not to say that Nathan Eovaldi or Tyler Mahle performed poorly. Mahle finished the 2025 season with a 6-4 record and a 2.18 ERA, while Eovaldi had a record of 11-3 with a 1.73 ERA. Had he not gotten hurt, he might have won the AL Cy Young Award instead of Tarik Skubal. If Eovaldi stays healthy enough in 2026 and performs exceptionally well, he might have a chance to be in the AL Cy Young Award conversations.

As of the writing of this story, the following are just rumors I've been reading online. So, the Rangers are just getting started when it comes to pursuing more players. They are actively eyeing the following two players.

Sonny Gray is one of two pitchers that the Rangers are interested in. Gray, who is 36, finished the 2025 season with the St. Louis Cardinals with a 4.28 ERA. The question is would he be worth pursuing on a financial standpoint?

Another name that has surfaced is Framber Valdez, the starting pitcher of the Rangers bitter rival, the Houston Astros. I'll say this again: just like Sonny Gray, these are just rumors. Treat them as such. Either way, if you've read my numerous stories about the Astros on Vocal, you know how I feel about them. Let's say hypothetically that Valdez does become a Texas Ranger, I still won't and will never acknowledge him as a World Series title because of the cheating scandal that occurred in 2017. He'll always have the Cheater label on him forever, as well as everyone else from that World Series team. It's not me being harsh. I'm just being brutally honest. He's free to be on any team he wants, but again, it would be highly inappropriate for me to acknowledge him as a World Series champion. It's not going to happen anytime soon.

If the Rangers do acquire more players, I'll keep everyone posted, as the offseason continues and the Winter Meetings happening next month. The next time Brandon Nimmo will face his former team will be on September 22, 2026, as part of a three-game series. The first Spring Training game for the Rangers will be on February 20, 2026, vs the Kansas City Royals.

Mets and Rangers fans, I want to hear from you in the comments below. What did you think about the news of the Nimmo-Semien blockbuster trade? Rangers fans, would you like to see Sonny Gray and/or Framber Valdez as part of the rotation?