Mets GM David Stearns’ Thanksgiving Week Zoom: Gratitude, Goodbyes, and a Stunning Trade

On a gray November morning, with Thanksgiving somehow both days away and already weighing heavily on the stomachs of Mets fans, David Stearns stepped onto a Zoom call and did something no Mets executive ever enjoys doing: explaining why he just traded Brandon Nimmo. And not just traded him… traded him to Texas, for a 35-year-old second baseman whose best years “may or may not be” be behind him depending on how optimistic you are this holiday season.

Stearns opened the call the way a man delivers a eulogy at a funeral where the body will still be playing outfield — just in Arlington. “I’ll start by just thanking Brandon and his family for an incredible career with the Mets,” Stearns said. “From the moment the Mets drafted Brandon, he did everything right here. He represented the organization exceptionally well on and off the field and really was a great Met.”

The phrase was a great Met hung in the Zoom room like one of Nimmo’s 524 career walks — patient, measured, and a little painful.

But this wasn’t a memorial service. It was an introduction. And Stearns wasted no time pivoting to the new arrival. “We’re also really excited to add Marcus Semien to our organization,” he said. “Marcus brings an elite level of defense… he’s a winner… he balances our lineup from the right side.” Stearns spoke about Semien the way realtors describe a house with “great bones,” only this house comes with two Gold Gloves, three All-Star nods, and a bWAR number that could probably finance half the Willets Point affordable housing project.

If you listened closely, you could almost hear Stearns opening the organization’s windows to let in some fresh air. Beyond Semien’s résumé, Stearns emphasized the flexibility the trade delivers — especially for the kids. “This opens up possibilities and flexibility for us… allowing space for a number of very young outfielders who are coming, who are talented and will deserve spots at the major league level.”

Translation: the Mets farm system has finally produced more than two outfielders at once, and someone needed to move. Apparently that someone was the guy who smiled, sprinted on every walk, kissed babies, shook hands, and never met a fan he didn’t high-five.

According to Stearns, the deal didn’t exactly materialize overnight. In fact, he traced the origins of it back to the post–GM Meetings shuffle, when teams start sobering up from three days of rumors, bad hotel coffee, and too many lobby conversations.

“This is something that really probably gained steam last week after the GM meetings,” Stearns explained. “I think throughout the off-season, Texas had looked at Nimmo as a very attractive fit for them, and we had looked at Semien as a potentially really good fit for us, but we didn't really line up and really start making progress on this, I think, until towards the tail end of the GM meetings into last week. These are difficult deals to put together.

“You're talking about two very established players. You're talking about two players who are embedded in their organizations, who have had success there, and clearly in Brandon's case, you're talking about a player with no trade protection. I'm going to keep the specifics of the conversation with Brandon, I think, between the two of us, but Brandon's a pro.

“He's the ultimate pro. He was very respectful, considerate, and considered, I think, throughout this process. He took time to digest everything, took time to speak with his representation, took time to speak with his family to determine what was best, and ultimately, he decided to accept the trade.”

Fans weren’t the only ones factored into the equation. Stearns was asked directly how much a move like this weighs baseball logic against the reality that Brandon Nimmo wasn’t just a player — he was a fan favorite and a fixture of the clubhouse. His answer was as honest as anything he said all day:

“Brandon was obviously not just a long-time player here, but a fan favorite. You've alluded to this a couple of times already, but to what extent or how much do you weigh those sorts of things versus just a pure baseball decision in these matters? It was something we had to think about, no question, both in terms of fan reality and the fan relationship with Brandon, but also we have real relationships with Brandon and our players have real relationships with Brandon, coaches do, front office does, and so that is a part of this, and that certainly makes decisions like this a little bit more challenging than they otherwise would be, but at the end of the day, I still felt like this was the right decision for the organization.”

It was the line that summed up everything: the emotion, the calculation, and the cold reality that sometimes the right baseball move is also the one that stings the most.

On the Semien front, Stearns didn’t pretend the Mets were trading for 2019 Marcus Semien, Destroyer of Baseballs. He acknowledged the decline but pushed back on the obituary. “There’s still some underlying aspects of what he does that are encouraging… The bat may not actually lead the way at this point… but we’re counting on… the contributions he can make for us defensively [and] on the bases.”

He also leaned hard into Semien’s influence and example: “This is someone who takes craft incredibly seriously… practices hard… and holds those expectations of his teammates as well.” If Brandon Nimmo was the team’s good-vibes cruise director, Semien is the guy handing out schedules and telling everyone breakfast starts at 7 sharp.

There were the expected questions about Jeff McNeil, who once again appears destined to be the human version of electrical tape: useful everywhere. “His positional versatility is a real asset for us,” Stearns said, with the tone of a man who will absolutely ask McNeil to play first base on a Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

As for the bigger picture, Stearns didn’t sugarcoat last season’s collapse. “What we did last year wasn’t good enough,” he said. “Running back the exact same group wasn’t the right thing to do.” The Nimmo trade, he indicated, is not the end of the reshuffling. “I don’t know what the next transaction is right now, but I know we’re going to keep going.”

He also made sure no one walks away thinking the Mets are cash-strapped or suddenly operating like the 1983 Montreal Expos. “Payroll space is not unending,” he said, “but I am very confident we’re going to have the support we need.” Re-signing Pete? Re-signing Edwin? Chasing another outfielder? “Sure,” he said. “I think anything would be realistic right now.”

By the time the press conference wrapped, Stearns had thanked Nimmo again, praised Semien again, and repeated the core theme of the day: hard decisions, necessary changes, and a belief that this is how you build “sustainable championship caliber play.”

It doesn’t make it any easier for the fan who got a Nimmo jersey as a gift last Christmas. Or for the kid who loved the sprint out of the box on ball four. Or for anyone who felt like Brandon Nimmo’s personality should’ve counted for more than “clubhouse intangibles are very difficult to measure.”

But on November 24, 2025, David Stearns made the kind of move executives get judged on years later — not minutes after the Zoom ends.

In Arlington, the Rangers got a beloved on-base machine.

In Queens, the Mets got a decorated, driven veteran.

And in the middle, the Mets fan base got a reminder:

Baseball hearts are big. Baseball business is bigger.