Nearly four decades before Brandon Nimmo’s arrival, another outfielder drafted in the first round by the Mets figured he would spend his entire career with the organization.
Brooklyn kid Lee Mazzilli advanced through the minor league system and debuted for the Mets in 1976. Five years later, the team traded him to the Rangers, beginning a nomadic voyage that later took Mazzilli to the Yankees, Pirates, back to the Mets and finally to the Blue Jays.
On Thursday, the Mets celebrated Nimmo’s new eight-year contract for $162 million that should allow him to finish his career with the organization that selected him in the first round of the 2011 draft. If that comes to fruition, the 29-year-old Nimmo would join a short list — consisting of David Wright, Ed Kranepool and Ron Hodges — of those who played at least a decade and spent their entire career with the Mets.
“I think every player that signs a contract when they turn professional always feels they’re going to finish their career with that organization,” Mazzilli said by phone this week. “That’s the mindset: You’re going to be this for life. But we know the business of the game of baseball that it’s probably highly unlikely that it happens.”
Tom Seaver should have been one of those players, but the Mets somehow managed to bungle their relationship with “The Franchise,” leading to the trade that sent him to the Reds in 1977.
More recently, the Mets watched Jose Reyes leave through free agency for the Marlins, and are still feeling the fallout from Jacob deGrom’s departure to the Rangers on a five-year contract worth $185 million.
Nimmo’s case was helped by the limited alternatives available to the Mets in center field, now and in the foreseeable future. That, and the fact that the Mets are trying to win a World Series sooner rather than later.
“I’m so happy for him, because he’s turned himself into one of the top center fielders in baseball, he’s really earned this and he’s such a special kid, such a likable person,” Mazzilli said. “The investment you made in him was a good investment because he was brought up right. You know what type of individual that he is and you’re never going to read anything bad about him.
“You watch him play, and he’s a good role model for young kids — even when he walks, he sprints down to first base. He hustles, he plays hard. He’s going to give you everything he has. It’s good to see one of the good guys get rewarded like that, so I’m happy for him. He’s a special kid.”
Mazzilli is grateful he eventually returned to the Mets, arriving in time to play for the World Series-winning team in 1986. Seaver returned to the Mets for one season (1983) before the organization foolishly left him unprotected, allowing the White Sox to acquire him. Reyes also had a second act with the Mets and finished his career in the organization.
“You see a lot of players come back and finish their careers with the team they started with, and that goes back to the love for that organization when you first signed,” Mazzilli said. “You never think you’re going to leave, but you do somehow, but you find a way to come back home and a lot of guys finish up that way, which is great as well.”
With Steve Cohen signing the checks, the organization could just be getting started in producing career Mets. Pete Alonso certainly fits the mold, and there’s a case for Jeff McNeil.
The most Amazin’ time of the year
Some Ruf fits
The Mets still need to add players — most notably another bat and a high-leverage bullpen arm — but subtraction has become another initiative for general manager Billy Eppler and his staff.
As it stands, James McCann and Darin Ruf are misfits on next season’s roster. The Mets have Francisco Alvarez set to at least share time behind the plate with Omar Narvaez (who agreed to terms Thursday on a two-year, $15 million deal) and perhaps Tomas Nido, likely squeezing out McCann. Maybe the only question now is whether McCann, who is still owed $24 million over the next two seasons, will be traded or released.
Ruf was a disappointment in his two-month stint with the team after arriving from the Giants, and was booed regularly at Citi Field near the end of last season.
Ruf is owed only $3 million, so removing him from the mix might not be as difficult as getting Eppler to swallow his pride and admit defeat on the trade.
We’ll have to ‘C’
As much as Nimmo fits the part of the next Mets captain, the best course might be to wait before deciding who, if anybody, takes the baton from Wright in that role.
Alonso and Francisco Lindor, after all, both have leadership traits that endear them to teammates. And there wouldn’t be any benefit in slighting others just to name one player the captain.
Lindor has nine years remaining on his contract. Alonso has two seasons until free agency. If Alonso stays long-term, it perhaps makes the most sense to abstain from bestowing the captaincy on one player, as the first baseman would join Nimmo and Lindor as de facto captains.
And if Alonso signs elsewhere, Nimmo and Lindor could always share the official “captain” title.
