Brandon Nimmo thanked Steve Cohen for Mets’ Juan Soto reality
Brandon Nimmo still isn’t sure what world he is living in.
Upon finding out that Juan Soto had chosen the Mets on a record contract, the veteran outfielder said he contacted team owner Steve Cohen and thanked him for transforming the franchise.
Nimmo said he flashed back to when he was drafted into the organization in 2011 and the Mets were shedding contracts.
The thought of landing a talent of Soto’s caliber was inconceivable, as was outbidding the Yankees for a player.
“It’s amazing how [Cohen] has changed things for Mets fans, Mets players and this organization,” Nimmo told The Post in a phone conversation Thursday, just before Soto’s introductory press conference at Citi Field. “It’s just a pivotal moment in his ownership and the history of the Mets franchise that he’s able to get a player away from the Yankees and a guy in his prime.
“Even when I was growing up, the Yankees always got the best players, they always bought the best players. It was just a common-known fact, and now you see something here where the Mets were able to bring [Soto] over. It’s a change to the way things have always been. I definitely think it is sweet to have done it this way.”
Early in the offseason, Nimmo said he spoke with Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns and was told the Mets would heavily pursue Soto.
Nimmo — who, like Soto, is represented by Scott Boras — said he obtained Soto’s phone number several weeks ago and texted him.
Nimmo said he relayed to Soto that his experience with the team has been “amazing,” and he wanted Soto as his teammate.
“I knew that David and Steve were doing whatever they could to bring him here,” Nimmo said. “When the news finally broke, just extreme jubilation. I sent text messages to [Stearns and Cohen] and said, ‘I can’t thank you enough for bringing him here.’”
Nimmo’s focus is overcoming the plantar fasciitis in his left foot that bothered him during the season, in the NLCS most notably.
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Nimmo said he received a PRP injection in the foot within days of the Mets’ season ending.
He is working out about four days a week at the team’s spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., but said he hasn’t begun jogging or running yet.
“Those are things with plantar that unfortunately come a little bit slower,” Nimmo said. “But we’re at a point in the offseason where it’s OK. We can give it some time and continue to load it. … If we keep heading in the right direction, I think we should have no problem come spring training.”