ATLANTA — Brandon Nimmo has spent this final stretch of the season aware that a once-proud Mets nucleus could be headed toward dissolution.
While Nimmo is a near-lock to return next year, along with Pete Alonso, the team is facing decisions on impending free agent Michael Conforto and players such as Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis, all of whom are under club control, but could be dealt after disappointing seasons.
“This team could look completely different next year and this organization could,” Nimmo said before the Mets played their penultimate game of the season Saturday. “With that being said, I’m trying to soak it in and enjoy these people, these last couple of games because we don’t know what the future holds and what this offseason will look like.”
It’s a group that looked to have staying power, particularly in 2019 when players such as Smith and Davis emerged to join Alonso during his historic rookie season of 53 homers.
The Mets added Francisco Lindor and James McCann last winter, but neither player performed to the expected level. The Mets entered Saturday averaging 3.94 runs per game, which ranked 27th in MLB.
Brandon Nimmo AP“I felt the same as everybody else, that this team is built to win here and obviously that didn’t happen so you are going to have a little bit of disappointment in not reaching expectations,” Nimmo said. “It felt like a perfect storm, of some guys having down starts and that kind of snowballing into what maybe they would consider down seasons for them and that all kind of happening in the same season and that’s just terrible luck. Whatever it may be, I just felt like it was kind of a bad storm. But I will enjoy the times I’ve had with these guys. I don’t know if it’s over or it’s not.”
The veteran of the group, with roots in the organization that date to 2011, Nimmo admitted he got emotional during the Mets’ home finale on Thursday as fans saluted Conforto in his possible Citi Field finale with the team. Nimmo later shared a moment with Conforto in the dugout.
Nimmo has been a bright spot, albeit in a season curtailed by injuries — he spent two months on the injured list with ligament damage in his left hand. He also had a brief stint on the IL in September because of a strained hamstring. He entered Saturday with a .297/.408/.446 slash line with eight homers and 27 RBIs in 90 games, and perhaps for the first time has shown he’s a capable center fielder, after working to improve at the position during the offseason and spring training.
“Hitting lefties and being a little more consistent, I’ve been better at that,” Nimmo said. “But I also want to stay good at what I’m good at and that’s getting on base and also being able to drive the ball and all those things are reflected in on-base percentage and OPS, so trying to just improve myself but keep the things that I am strong at. I think I have done a pretty good job at that, but I still have got a lot of improving to do. Same in center field, I think I have improved there and there’s still room to improve, which I think is great that I can still even get better.”
About to enter his last offseason of arbitration eligibility (he can become a free agent after the 2022 season), Nimmo said he’s open to signing long-term with the Mets.
“I don’t know if it will be at the front burner of things they are worried about, but I definitely would be open to having that conversation and I would love to have that conversation,” Nimmo said. “This is where I have grown up, this all I know, I was drafted by the Mets — not many people get that opportunity. I would love to have that conversation.”
