AL East contender showing interest in Mets’ Brandon Nimmo, report says

The market for Brandon Nimmo is hot right now.

Most recently, it seems to Toronto Blue Jays are getting in the mix.

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The Blue Jays are showing interest in the free-agent center fielder, sources tell MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. Nimmo could be the left-handed bat the Blue Jays lack. They seem serious, being that just Wednesday morning, they traded outfielder Teoscar Hernández to the Seattle Mariners freeing up a spot in the lineup.

Nimmo declined the New York Mets’ qualifying offer on Tuesday and will explore his options. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported Tuesday that the New York Yankees have talked to Nimmo as well. That deal, of course, would be contingent on whether outfielder Aaron Judge decides to re-sign with New York.

The options for Nimmo seem to be pretty vast. Here’s what his agent Scott Boras said about the market for Nimmo last week. Per the New York Post:

“Boras said Wednesday that ‘the majority’ of MLB teams have already checked in on Nimmo … ‘There are a lot of teams in the free-agent market that are in the waters for a center fielder ….You are looking at a guy that there are no center fielders in our game that are available. And then you add leadoff to that and then you add … on-base percentage to that, and he’s an excellent defender and then also he can play in New York. When you have those elements that are there, he becomes a very integral part of what we found for a team to win 100 games. He’s a very proven commodity and there are very few that can replace him.’”

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The Mets may look internally if Nimmo leaves. Earlier this month, general manager Billy Eppler told Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post on The Show podcast that the Mets could slide Starling Marte over to center if they lose Nimmo. “We are comfortable with [Marte] in centerfield,” he said.

The Mets announced Nov. 3 that Marte had surgery to repair a core muscle injury sustained in the second half of this season. According to the Mets, the typical recovery timeline for this injury is eight weeks, and he is expected to be ready to play without restriction in Spring Training.

MORE MLB:

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– MLB insider: Mets must sign 2 of the top free-agent starters to contend in 2023

– Mets ‘talking’ with Jacob deGrom but Cy Young contender makes sense as backup

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Bridget Hyland may be reached at bhyland@njadvancemedia.com.

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