Marcus Semien can't change NY Mets history, he can rewrite its reputation

The Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien trade was complicated. A fan-favorite for an aging veteran whose best use is defense at a position where the New York Mets already had options. It’s a story we’ve seen before in some ways.

Mets history is, unfortunately, scattered with bad trades for second basemen. Excluding something like the inclusion of Doug Flynn for Tom Seaver, the more direct deals for Carlos Baerga, Roberto Alomar, and Robinson Cano all passed through our minds when Semien came to New York.

All three acquisitions went badly for the Mets for three different reasons. The fact that each played second base only connects them to Semien more. This isn’t just about helping the 2026-2028 Mets while justifying all of the reasons why the Mets would move on from Nimmo. This is about changing a franchise’s reputation that has regularly chosen the wrong second baseman.

If anyone can rewrite the Mets trade history for second baseman, it might be Marcus Semien

Cano’s PED suspension prior to coming to the Mets and multiple Alomar incidents both on and off the field prior to and after have made them better-known for things other than their stats. Baerga didn’t work out in New York due to some injuries and certainly other reasons as well. It’s the unpreventable injury bug that’ll be the big challenge for Semien. A foot fracture last year, which seems to be behind him, was the cause of missing several weeks late in the year.

Durable throughout his career, we know better than to count on Semien for his usual near-162 games. He has led the league in games played 4 times in his career. But the Mets need more than availability. They need this three-time third-place MVP finisher to be closer than not to his career numbers. The last two years have been down and getting worse. There is a path where he can be useful to the Mets even if it’s not perfect for what they intended.

The Mets have strangely had some of these same circumstances at a variety of positions throughout their history. The failure to find any long-term solution at third base has been a daunting task. Howard Johnson and David Wright are just about the only players who’ve ever provided long-term stability there. Johnson’s poor defense had him regularly moving off of the position. We can’t quite count him.

Until Francisco Lindor, shortstop was a position led by Jose Reyes in team history with a large number of light-hitters ranking among the best. Rarely have the Mets had stability in left field. Many of their franchise greats have been first basemen, center fielders, right fielders, and even catchers.

A dark cloud isn’t hanging over Semien to change the reputation the Mets have when it comes to deals for second basemen. What happened in the past unrelated to him has no merit on what will happen now. The Mets and their fans have just been down this road a few too many times. We know how this rodeo goes. It ends with us getting lassoed and humiliated for thinking “this time it’ll be different.”