The New York Mets are signing former Phillie David Robertson to a one-year, $10 million contract, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The news broke minutes after it was reported that the Mets are bringing back center fielder Brandon Nimmo on an eight-year, $162 million deal.
Robertson, 37, was acquired by the Phillies at the trade deadline from the Chicago Cubs for pitching prospect Ben Brown. He posted a 2.70 ERA over 23 1/3 innings with the Phillies in the regular season. He allowed two hits and one inherited runner to score across four outings in the postseason. Robertson closed out a series-opening extra-innings win in 10 innings against the Astros in Game 1 of the World Series.
He’ll receive a nice raise from the one-year, $3.5 million deal he signed with Chicago prior to last season.
The trade was a reunion of sorts for Robertson and the Phillies. He signed a two-year, $23 million contract with the Phillies prior to the 2019 season, but only threw 6 2/3 innings before elbow soreness — and eventually Tommy John surgery — ended his first stint in Philadelphia.
A perpetual Mets trade target, Robertson heads back to the Big Apple after spending nine seasons with the Yankees earlier in his career. He’ll likely be a setup option with Edwin Diaz getting the ball in the ninth inning for the Mets over the next five years.
As if seven years wasn’t enough, the Phillies will see a lot more of the pesky Nimmo. In 328 career plate appearances against the Phillies, Nimmo has a .401 on-base percentage and 58 walks, 14 more than he has against any other club.
Nimmo was the second-best available free agent among outfielders. With the class not as deep as it was last season and the market for elite players climbing by the minute, Nimmo was always going to get paid a ton of money.
With the signings, the Mets are projected to have a big-league record $335 million luxury tax payroll, per FanGraphs.