Increasing the Mets’ run prevention was one of David Stearns’ top priorities in his first offseason as the team’s president of baseball operations.
One way Stearns addressed that was by signing veteran centre fielder Harrison Bader to a one-year, $10.5 million contract, one of baseball’s best defensive outfielders.
Bader offers an elite-caliber defender up the middle for New York, so even if Brandon Nimmo has greatly developed as a defender over the past few seasons, it is assumed that the 30-year-old would slide over to left field more frequently.
Over the course of the offseason, Nimmo has spoken with Stearns, who has maintained his willingness to go above and beyond to position the team for success.
“My goal at this point in my career is to win a World Series,” he said Monday at spring training. “I put my trust in David if he thinks this will make us better, that’s fine by me. I’m definitely willing and available to do whatever is best for us to win a World Series.
“It’s just about being versatile. We have an amazing center fielder in Harrison who was brought in and has been at the top of the list for the last few years defensively, so I just have to be versatile with being ready for both left and center field.”
According to manager Carlos Mendoza, “if everyone’s healthy and producing and playing the way they’re capable of playing, you’re going to see a lot of Brandon in left and Bader in centre.” However, Mendoza said that the position of centre field is contingent upon matchups, player health, and the schedule.
“Again, there’s versatility and there’s flexibility and then the health factor,” the manager continued. “So, hopefully, I have those tough decisions.”
Throughout his big league career, Nimmo has been plagued by injuries. He is hoping that switching to a corner outfield position would help him stay healthy in the future.
“Less miles on the legs is always going to help you out,” he said. “If I’m able to move over it’ll save miles on my legs and I won’t have to move as much, so ultimately you’d hope that that’ll help with health in the long run.”
Nimmo believes the squad gathered to improve from last year and contend, despite the fact that some fans are pessimistic about the Mets going into the season because they didn’t make the big-name signings supporters had been hoping for this winter.
“We feel really good about what we’ve got,” he said. “I believe in the guys that are in this clubhouse and the team that David and Carlos put together. We’re deep, we’ve got a lot of good players, we have veterans and a lot of young guys coming up.
“I’m excited about what these guys are going to bring both on and off the field. I’m excited to get to know them and to see what their aspirations are for how they’re going to get better this year and how we’re going to help the team.”