Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who is set to hit free agency after the 2022 season and recently hired Scott Boras as his new agent, told Tim Healey of Newsday that he wants to play center field in 2022.
The presence of Starling Marte, who played only center field last season and has been in center for all but one game dating back to 2018, could complicate that preference.
But Nimmo improved in center last season, partly due to his positioning, which included being more shallow at times.
"It proved that, hey, if you give me information, if you allow me to make the adjustments, I will give it everything I got," Nimmo told Newsday. "I was very, very proud of the difference in the numbers from ’20 to ’21 and doing what they asked me to do and improving there."
Nimmo was worth 4 DRS in center last season after being worth -5 DRS in 2020. Meanwhile, Marte was worth 2 DRS in center last year. So there is at least a conversation to be had over who should play center and who should be in a corner spot.
As far as Nimmo's future, SNY's Andy Martino reported earlier this offseason that the Mets are open to signing him to an extension.
That Nimmo has hired The Boras Corporation is not necessarily a bad thing for the Mets' front office, with Billy Eppler and Co. having recently worked out a deal with Boras client Max Scherzer that will pay Scherzer the highest annual average value in the history of the sport.
Nimmo, who will turn 29 years old on March 27, has been one of the most valuable outfielders in baseball over the last four seasons, slashing .267/.398/.457 in 1,400 plate appearances over 356 games.
In 2021, Nimmo hit .292/.401/.437 in just 92 games as he missed a large chunk of time due to a finger injury.
