The Yankees are expected to meet with free-agent center fielder Brandon Nimmo this week, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Nimmo is attending the Winter Meetings in San Diego in order to have this very type of face-to-face meeting.
Interest in Nimmo isn’t necessarily indicative of any pessimism regarding the Yanks’ ongoing efforts to re-sign Aaron Judge. Heyman writes that the team is hoping to secure two outfielders this winter, and while Judge and Nimmo represent the two most expensive options on the market, they also represent the top two talents. It’s only natural that losing Judge would theoretically increase New York’s urgency to then lure Nimmo away from their crosstown rivals, but interest in one does not strictly depend on the other’s situation.
Nimmo, who’ll turn 30 near the end of Spring Training, is a sensible target for the Yankees, regardless of Judge’s eventual decision. The Yankees’ seven-year extension for center fielder Aaron Hicks has proven to be a misstep, as Hicks has been oft-injured throughout the life of the deal and has seen his defensive ratings in center decline. The 2022 season actually marked the first time that Judge has played primarily center field, and his shift to center was borne largely out of injuries and poor performance from Hicks. The Yankees could have turned things over to young Estevan Florial for a larger look, but despite a solid showing in Triple-A, the team gave Florial just 35 big league plate appearances, during which time he went 3-for-31 with 13 strikeouts.
Adding Nimmo would give the Yankees a clear-cut everyday option in center, where his defensive ratings have improved considerably over the past two seasons in the estimation of Defensive Runs Saved (1), Ultimate Zone Rating (2.5) and Outs Above Average (9).The former No. 13 overall draft pick would also give the Yankees a high-OBP, relatively low-strikeout option to bat atop or near the top of the order, and the appeal of taking any left-handed hitter and allowing him to reap the benefits of Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch has obvious allure.
Over the past three seasons, Nimmo has turned in a collective .280/.384/.443 batting line with 32 home runs, 55 doubles, 13 triples, an impressive 12.3% walk rate and a lower-than-average 18.5% strikeout rate. He’s been 38% better than a league-average offensive player in that span, by measure of wRC+, due largely to his elire on-base skills. Of the 342 players to tally at least 500 plate appearances since 2020, only six have reached base at a higher rate than Nimmo: Juan Soto, Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Judge, Mike Trout and Paul Goldschmidt.
Injuries have been the primary knock on Nimmo throughout his career, as he’d only played in 100 games one time entering the 2022 season (though he did appear in 55 of 60 contests during the shortened 2020 campaign). He enjoyed his healthiest season to date in 2022, however, logging a career-high 151 games. The injury history on Nimmo is long, as he’s missed time with knee, foot, neck, hamstring and finger injuries in addition to a partially collapsed lung in 2017. For all those injuries, he’s only been on the 60-day IL once in his career, when he missed 104 days due to a neck injury in 2019.
Checkered health history notwithstanding, it’s an extraordinarily thin market for center fielders this winter, with Nimmo standing as the only true everyday option who’s coming off a strong season (assuming one still considers Judge more of a right fielder). Nimmo has been an excellent offensive player, a solid defender and, in recent seasons, more durable on the whole, appearing in just shy of 78% of possible games dating back to 2020. The general expectation is that he’ll secure a nine-figure contract — perhaps even one that pushes to six years in length.
Pairing Nimmo and Judge could very well tack $60MM or more in luxury-tax obligations onto the Yankees’ 2023 ledger, which currently sits at a projected $222.2MM, per Roster Resource. A Judge/Nimmo pairing would skyrocket the Yankees from a bit shy of the luxury tax all the way to the third tier of penalization and place them within arm’s reach of the newly implemented fourth tier, which kicks in at $293MM this coming season. Of course, that number could be whittled down by finding a taker for Hicks or Josh Donaldson on the trade market (though the Yankees would surely have to pay down some of their remaining commitments), or perhaps by shopping any of the team’s pricier arbitration-eligible players (e.g. Gleyber Torres, Isiah Kiner-Falefa).
Nimmo rejected a $19.65MM qualifying offer from the Mets and would thus cost the Yankees, who paid the luxury tax in 2022, their second- and fifth-highest selections in next summer’s draft, as well as a $1MM reduction in the size of their 2023 bonus pool for international amateur free agents. In addition to the Yankees, he’s been linked to the Mariners, Blue Jays, Giants, Rays and incumbent Mets.
Bye judge
I think he’s probably signing with the Brewers…he wants to be on a good team XD
Does it really matter what the Yankees do? They are door mats now
They just traded Monty for Bader a few months ago. I thought he was their future CF. Looked good in the playoffs. Is Cashman still upset that Ellsbury/Gardner 1-2 punch never worked out and trying again with a Bader/Nimmo combo? It’s always a good idea to have a natural CF play left at Yankee Stadium. In most cities LF is the easiest to play and any noodle arm can make a play YS is another beast entirely. Yes we had Gardner to make it look routine since the Ellsbury signing but it’s not. I still think resigning Benintendi is the better move over Nimmo. Package Hicks with a top prospect and I do mean top. Cabrera maybe possibly even Volpe (good bat but atrocious D at SS) and trade them for a ptbnl. Donaldson should be kept. He will definitely hit better than last year. He is far too competitive not to. He has great D at 3rd and is a veteran leader for the rookies. He’s expensive but has his advantages even if he doesn’t hit. Plus it’s only one more year. Look back at his other contract years. He always raked. Even after a bad year.
Another confirmation that Judge is 86’ing himself. Goodluck to that team!!
For some odd reason I read this in Gordon Ramsay’s voice which made me laugh, however I don’t think the Yanks meeting w/ Nimmo means Judge is out the door unless he (Nimmo) signs w/ them.
“The chicken is RAHHHWWWWWW!!”
“I am a chef who happens to appear on the telly, that’s it.”
Forget about Bader while writing this? Is he not a clear cut every day option in center?
I was thinking the same thing – not like Steve who, I think, is one of the best writers on the site.
Umm, Harrison Bader says hello?
Cash and Hal killed the franchise.
For not meeting judges outrage contract demands?
Please enlighten me with your thoughts! I have my popcorn ready.
Good fit in Yankee Stadium.
Not really. While he is a left=handed bat, the guy doesn’t swing. He comes to the plate hoping for walks because he looks bad when he swings regularly. Not a good hitter at all – mediocre for the most part.
I am pretty sure the Jays could land Judge
No thanks not at 9 years and 40% of a billion
My Rogers bill is high enough
“…all that money AND free Disney Plus?”
Giants are going to get Judge. They’re willing to pay more and Judge doesn’t wanna stay with the Yankees. They should honestly just sign Rodon and retool/remain competitive to a certain extent next year.
Rodon has been mediocre besides two seasons. Jake Arrietta 2.0. Judge also going to the Giants doesn’t make the Yankees worse. They’re better off in that case, thus avoiding paying a declining 40-year-old DH to play half the season
“Judge also going to the Giants doesn’t make the Yankees worse.”
What a nutty statement.
It’s short term versus long term. If Judge leaves the Yankees will be worse off for the first three or four years but better on the back half.
And the money could theoretically be better allocated in the short term.
An outfield of Nimmo, Bader, and Reynolds/Stanton would be one of the best in baseball. Add J.D. Matinez, and Lopez, and the Yanks will be contenders for a long time.
Then why haven’t they signed him? I think Judge wants a ring more than money. He’s getting a great deal regardless. SF would be a terrible choice. They are far removed from their last WS championship and have a crappy farm system. Sadly, I don’t think he’ll ever get a ring with the Yankees. I think he knows that. I’m guessing Dodgers, which would be akin to Durant going to GS.
Yes, it has been so very, very long since the Giants won 107 games….
Darth Bader has CF handled for 2023.
In Texas they go big. Can’t be bigger than Aaron 🙂
Wish my team (White Sox) would actually go all-in on a big FA. Even Benintendi would be huge at this point. Must be nice to be a fan of a team that both has money and is willing to spend it.
I hate the Yankees but I rather bader and nimmo over Judge. Save money and you get a guy like nimmo who will hit 30 hrs in that stadium and get on base. Bader found a home.
No one seems to realize homeruns don’t mean anything. Judge just hit 62 and the team got subsequently swept in the ALCS because no one put the ball in to play besides Bader
Agreed. the old yanks did everything right. And they never had superstars besides Jeter and he wasn’t an Arod. He was better. Got on base. O’Neil would drive in runs. Tino same. Bernie just got hits. You need a team not individual stats.
49.8%
Overall, teams scored 49.8% of their runs via the home run, the third-highest rate in a single postseason since the playoffs expanded in 1969, behind only 2020 (51.3%) and ’17 (50.9%)
Courtesy of MLB.com Oct 5, 2022
… just get me to the postseason
Bader with some combo of benintendi, reynolds, or nimmo seems fine
Nimmo can’t hit 30 HRs if he never swings, and when he does, he gets exposed.
I think this is less about Judge and more about Hicks.
Not trying to judge anyone in the Yankees front office but it appears they’re about to all rise for Aaron’s departure.
It will sting for 2 years if he leaves but it’s tempered by the fact that he’ll be another Ellsbury a few seasons into the deal
Let’s be honest here, we love Judge. He’s a class act and when healthy an elite player.
He’s also at the wrong end of 30, injury prone and a big man. Any contract he gets is going to age like milk. People also forget about his penchant for striking out excessively in the playoffs. It’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t sign with NY.
Yeah, especially since the Yankees already have a big many that strikes out a lot and is injury-prone. You know, the guy that Jeter “gifted to the Yankees”.
Nimmo, if he signed with the Yankees, would play LF. Bader is their CFer.
Of course, but Adams didn’t seem to get the memo.
Past history has told us the last 5 years of Judge’s contract are going to be ugly, so I woulld pivot and sign both Nimmo and Bassitt, and JD Martinez. I would trade Gleyber,Hicks and Cabrera to the Marlins for Lopez and Dominquez, Schmidt, and German for Reynolds. I would move Donaldson with a prospect, and pay down 10 million.
Good ideas, Martinez seems like an odd fit but he would certainly produce
JD and Stanton both need a lot of time at DH.
I@slider32
I too believe that the Marlins and Yankees will follow up on that Lopes/Torrez package trade discussion.
That is if Kim Ng can fit it into her schedule of making the rounds as an ambassador for MLB. After all, that seems to be more important to her than actually doing the job he’s officially hired to do.
I still won’t say Judge isn’t a Yankee until I see it myself.
Who loves ya, baby?
Harris.needs.my help.
Excellent, excellent, you Yankees take Nimmo, we’ll take Judge off your hands.
Good fit for Yankee stadium
Realistically Cashman fumbled these negotiations long ago. But on the other hand Judge had not remained healthy enough to warrant 300+million at that time.
Personally I don’t think he will stay healthy through the remaining part of his career. Sure he’s in his prime but on the other side of 35 that contract will look horrible in NY because they have Stanton at DH.
I think if Hal spent the money on Correra for SS and Xander for 2nd base this year and slide him over to 3rd next year, traded Torres or Peraza for Reynolds, and picked up Nimmo or Bennetendi for Left Field this team will be night and day better than bringing back judge. You still have Volpe to play 2nd base after next year.
Spending that kind of money will easily erase the loss of judge. The Giants won’t get past the dodgers but the yankees will have a roster that can go toe to toe woth Houston.
You’re right, Cashman really screwed up the negotiations, and Judge is still talking about how P.O.’d he was about Cashman negotiating in the press:
yahoo.com/entertainment/aaron-judge-upset-yankees-…
If Judge is smart, he’ll sign out west.
It’d take more than Peraza or Torres to get Reynolds. Cherington always asks the world in trade.
Nimmo would be my choice over Benintendi, but Beni could be okay too. I don’t see them signing both.
Who’s playing right field in Judge’s absence? — not Stanton on any regular basis. Who, then? Oswaldo Cabrera? Hicks is a waste of a roster spot and should be traded if possible or dumped if not.
Then there’s the question of The Martian. If they’re filling the outfield with veterans on long-term contracts, should they trade Dominguez now for pitching?
I don’t see them signing both Bogaerts and Correa. Your suggestions, while sound strategically, don’t fit Hal’s spending profile. I don’t see them letting Judge walk, only to spend more money to compensate for the loss.
Plus, they need to add at least a #2 starting pitcher if they want to compete with the Astros. Houston’s international scouting department runs rings around Cashman’s, and they keep loading up on superb pitchers on the cheap.
Things is, Judge was a 6 WAR / year player even in poor health.
If Judge signs with the Yankees, he’s a fool.
If Hal wants to cheap out on filling the team’s needs in the future, Judge’s contract will be the ready excuse. If Judge strikes out four times, the eminently reasonable fans at Yankee Stadium will boo him. If he drops a fly ball, they’ll boo him. If he hits “only” 40 home runs, they’ll boo him.
Who needs that? Go west, young man.
Judge’s contract, and Cole’s, and Stanton’s, and DJLM. 2026 is going to be gruesome. $1`16m for four guys in their mid to late 30s.
I wonder if this syndrome is a product of Cashman’s seeming belief that it’s safer to play older vets than to give younger players their shot?
Nimmo can’t hold Bader’s jockstrap in CF. Be serious. He can slide over to LF. LOL! Yankees are better off resigning Benintendi and stick with the DRS approach they are building. Nimmo is not a great glove.
Defensive metrics have always been dubious, and how they rate a defender depends which stats you select. If you go by the old school metrics, Nimmo is a superior defender. If you go by the older “advanced” metrics, he’s not so good. If you go by Statcast OAA, he’s a superior defender. The stats are all over the place.
Bader is better, but they can use Nimmo the same way they used Gardner when he played in left field but used to regularly spell Hicks in center field.
Yeah either way an OF w Bader and Nimmo is better offensively and defensively so it’s a win win… if they get judge and Nimmo that’s a big offseason
I don’t think it’s Judge and Nimmo. I think it’s Judge or Nimmo, and I think it’s Nimmo if it’s either of them.
Probably so… I was just saying if it was both, that’s a big move. If it’s either, well…
Nimmo sounds nice manning Petco Park’s LF….
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nimmo on the Dodgers unfortunately… or about 5 other teams
True. I think Nimmo’s done with the Mets. He was ill-used by their medical staff, much of which is still there, as are Alderson & Son.
I bet a fair amount of coin on this, too. We shall see, but he never talked like a guy who was serious about returning; Mets payroll for CBT purposes is already either $287m or $289m, and they’re short two starting pitchers and most of a bullpen.
If there’s one place they can skimp, it’s CF. Either that, or push payroll north of $360 million
Exactly… many holes to fill, and I truly do think they’re going to try and load up for the big push for ohtani next year as well, so they don’t want to go heavy on long-term deals. And watch, they’ll go sign rodon and fool all of us haha
seriously though, I feel a trade coming more so with them. It’s been eating at me, but I wouldn’t be surprised. And as much as I love nimmo, I think his perceived value right now is higher than his actual value on the field (which I never would’ve thought possible two years ago).
I hear that Jacoby Ellsbury is tanned, rested, and ready.
I dont believe for a second that the Yankees would sign both Nimmo and Judge.
And I’ll believe Judge is actually leaving when I see it. To me this is just due diligence.
The Yankees need Judge more than any other team in baseball. He is worth too much to them in terms of off the field value.
If it was some poorly run, irrational team that was competing with the Yanks for Judge, then I could possibly see them getting outbid. (Or, if they were competing against a team in a low or no tax state). But it’s the Giants- and as much as they may want Judge, I don’t see them going completely crazy.
So, I see the Yanks as the high bidder, which only leaves one remaining question- does Judge want out?
The Yankees need Judge about as much as SF does, but the Yankees farted around at 8/300m while the Giants slammed 9/360m on the table.
Advantage: San Francisco.
Bader is the CF, Nimmo would play LF.
Don’t see Nimmo returning to the Mets.
Regardless of whether Judge returns or no, they should sign Nimmo.
I’m thinking Nimmo to the Yanks and Judge Giants or Red Sox. Boston has alot of money that just came off the books and even less committed in the future. Do they open up the bank and sign Judge and steal him from under the nose of the Yanks (maybe a curse on the Yanks!?!?!) Could Boston offer 9 yrs at 350 mil? They could structure the contract to where one or two of those years “break the AAV record for a position player”. They could build around Judge, making the fan base EXTREMELY happy that they took the best Yankee and made him a BoSoc.
Nimmo to the Yanks + Rodon makes losing Judge not nearly as big a deal. If Rodon gives 150 inning of elite production and Nimmo just does what he did with the Mets it close to even IMO, with more value going to Judge. If Nimmo gets the “Yanky Stadium Boost” that some people assume he will get BC he is a lefty and somehow bumps his career .441 slug to .490 and his OBP stays the same at .385 for a career then you are looking at a .875 OPS guy hitting at the top of a good order.. plus hes a good defender, good baserunner, great clubhouse guy. Yanks could quickly forget about losing Judge and could potentially sign Nimmo and Rodon for less AAV and definitely less guaranteed over time than Judge by himself. Judge 2022 WAR- 10.6 Nimmo 2022 WAR 5.1 Rodon 2022 WAR 5.6….. Rodon+Nimmo = 10.7.
Nimmo feels like an Ellsbury signing., if that’s the direction. they go in.
I think Nimmo is a better all around hitter than Ellsbury, wont come with the risk that Ellsbury had, and wont take as large of a contract (adjusted for inflation) as it took to land Ellsbury,
I think Nimmo will get greedy and miss out
He’d be an ideal signing for the Red Sox.
Nimmo would be a great improvement for the Yankees – offensively, defensively, and the clubhouse. He’s a lefty bat who can get on base and provide needed power from the left side of the plate. Bringing Rizzo and Judge is the easy part. Improving a lineup that repeatedly fails to hit good pitching is where Hal and Cashman comes up short. I don’t expect any progress.
Forgot to mention that Statcast projects Nimmo’s HRs to increase if he plays his home games in YS.