Rangers' Brandon Nimmo opens up about Francisco Lindor, alleged clubhouse problems that impacted 2025 Mets

Part of New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns dismantling the core of the club's roster this offseason involved trading outfielder and homegrown talent Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien this past fall.

One report claimed that part of the alleged clubhouse issues that impacted the Mets during their collapse last season involved the fact that Nimmo and star shortstop Francisco Lindor supposedly didn't get along due to political differences. The fact that Mets owner Steve Cohen has since insisted that the Mets "will never" name an official team captain under his watch has left some wondering if there is at least some truth to the stories about Lindor's relationships with Nimmo and star outfielder Juan Soto.

For a piece published on Sunday, Nimmo insisted during a chat with Will Sammon of The Athletic that he has no harsh feelings toward Lindor in the early days of spring training. 

Brandon Nimmo says Francisco Lindor was "an amazing teammate"

"I don’t think, by any means, does Francisco having a C or not having a C change the way that he goes about his business," Nimmo explained. "Francisco was nothing but kind, nothing but an amazing teammate, an amazing leader." 

Nimmo featured only for the Mets from when he made his MLB debut in 2016 through last season. Meanwhile, he and Lindor shared a clubhouse over the past five campaigns. 

Famously, Nimmo and Lindor began picking up tabs for team dinners during the club's 2024 season turnaround that involved the Mets completing a trip to the National League Championship Series. The two were often referred to as favorites to eventually be named the Mets' first team captain since David Wright retired after the 2018 campaign, but Cohen elected against putting a figurative or literal C on a jersey. 

"I never felt any animosity from Francisco about a captain spot," Nimmo added. "I never felt it at all. I always told anybody that asked about it, 'I don’t need a C on my chest to know that I have an impact on this clubhouse.'"

Brandon Nimmo reflects on what went wrong for the 2025 Mets

The 2025 Mets shockingly went from 45-24 to outside of the playoffs when they finished their final game of the regular season. A reported lack of team chemistry has been blamed for the struggles that the Mets endured last year, but manager Carlos Mendoza recently said that the club "just didn't win games on the baseball field" enough over the campaign's second half. 

"To answer your question — why do I think it did not work? — I think it did work in some situations," Nimmo added about his final season with the Mets. "The outpouring of support that I felt from the teammates of, 'We’re gonna miss you,' and, 'We appreciate you,' to the degree I wanted to lead and I wanted to be looked at, I wouldn’t change anything about how I went about things there. I treated people with respect. I tried to help make people better. And I tried to lift people up and be a positive force to be around. But ultimately, you need results." 

The Mets didn't produce those desired results with Nimmo, and that's a big reason he and other big names (Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz) now have new baseball homes.