Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets will have plenty of big decisions to make this offseason regarding what to do with their upcoming free agents, but keeping Brandon Nimmo should be one of the organization’s top priorities.  Nimmo has been with the Mets since being selected with the 13th overall pick of the 2011 draft and has emerged as one of baseball’s best center fielders.

There are plenty of reasons why the Mets should prioritize bringing Nimmo back, but one of the biggest reasons is simply because they know what they are getting with him. Nimmo has been a Met since 2016, and despite his injury history, he has been a consistent producer in the Mets lineup when he is on the field. His .367 on-base percentage in 2022 was the lowest since his rookie year and 18 points below his career .385 mark, yet he still finished 16th in MLB in OBP. He also finished 16th in MLB in pitches seen per plate appearance with 4.13. Nimmo’s ability to work long at-bats and reach base at an elite rate were major factors in Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso setting their career highs in RBI this past season.

On top of his proven ability to get on base, Nimmo has also proven he is capable of making big strides to improve his game in areas where he lacks. In 2020, the Mets decided to commit to putting Nimmo in center field full-time and he struggled, producing a -4 OAA. In 2021, he improved his OAA to 3. In 2022, the Mets were comfortable enough with Nimmo in center field that they put Starling Marte in right field instead of him. He rewarded the team by playing a terrific center field, finishing with a 6 Outs Above Average which was 13th among 46 qualified center fielders. Nimmo may not be a perfect player, but he has proven that he has the ability to quickly turn a weakness into a strength.

Another reason the Mets should find a way to retain Nimmo is the lack of quality alternative options.

With Steve Cohen at the helm, the Mets should be able to flex their financial muscle in free agency. But who are the other free agent center fielders that will be available? The most obvious answer is Aaron Judge, but while he is certainly capable of playing center field, he is a much stronger defender in right field and shouldn’t be considered as an everyday center field option.

Outside of Judge and Nimmo, no other free agent center fielder has even accumulated a 2.0 fWAR over the past two seasons. Of the impending free agents, Odúbel Herrera had the highest fWAR over the past two seasons at 1.8. Kevin Kiermaier had a 3.7 fWAR over the past two seasons, but he is coming off hip surgery in August and has a $13M club option for 2023. Both of these players have been defense-first players throughout their careers. Considering Nimmo nearly posted a higher fWAR (5.4) than those two combined in just 2022, it is safe to say that free agency is not a viable way for the Mets to find a replacement for Nimmo.

The next possible option would be to explore a trade. But what center fielders can the Mets target that could replace Nimmo? Realistically, nobody. Sticking with fWAR, the only center fielder who had a better year than Nimmo was Mike Trout (6.0 fWAR.) Nimmo finished just in front of Mariner star Julio Rodríguez (5.3 fWAR) in 2022, so while he may not be as flashy as some of the game’s biggest names, Nimmo can provide just as much value as nearly any center fielder in baseball. Finding a center fielder as good as Nimmo is hard enough. Finding a team that is willing to trade one away would be nearly impossible.

What if the Mets wanted to look in-house for their next center fielder? After last year’s trade that sent Pete Crow-Armstrong to Chicago, the Mets don’t have any prospects on the horizon who profile as starting caliber center fielders. Jake Mangum is most likely the closest thing the Mets have to an MLB-ready center field prospect in their farm system, and despite the 26-year-old having a solid year across three minor league levels, there is no way the Mets can insert him into their everyday lineup if they want to build on this season’s success. Mangum is great defensively, but there are still questions about his bat as a full-time player.

After Mangum, there’s 19-year-old Alex Ramirez, one of the Mets top prospects and now one of the top 100 prospects in baseball according to multiple outlets. Ramirez is coming off a fine season in which he posted a .782 OPS between Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn, though he’s certainly a couple of years away from helping at the big league level.

According to Andy Martino of SNY, the Mets love Nimmo as a player and as a part of the team’s culture, and if his price tag is deemed reasonable by the front office, the team will lean towards retaining their homegrown center fielder. It is no secret that Nimmo would be interested in a return to the Mets, and if the Mets are wise, they will be quick to work out a deal to make the reunion official.