The New York Mets today announced the club has acquired second baseman Neil Walker from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for lefthanded pitcher Jon Niese.
Walker, 30, batted .269 (146-543) with 32 doubles, 16 home runs and 71 RBI in 151 games for Pittsburgh in 2015. His 16 home runs were tied for most by a National League second baseman while his .328 on-base percentage was tied for third-best among NL second basemen.
In 2014, Walker earned his first Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger award after hitting a career-high 23 home runs and ranking first among NL second basemen in home runs, slugging percentage (.467) and OPS (.809).
He’s hit at least 16 home runs in each of his last three seasons and has reached double-digit home run totals in each of his six full seasons in the big leagues.
Defensively, Walker owned a .989 fielding percentage at second base in 2015, fifth-best among qualifying National League second basemen. In 2014, Walker had the second-best fielding percentage (.992) for a National League second baseman.
Niese, 29, went 9-10 with a 4.13 ERA (81 earned runs/176.2 innings) in 33 games (29 starts) for the Mets in 2015. For his career in a Mets uniform, Niese was 61-61 in 182 games (177 starts). His 177 career starts are 10th-most in franchise history.
Original Article
The Mets are back in the market for a second baseman after failing to sign Ben Zobrist on Tuesday night. Assistant GM John Ricco brought up two names when discussing potential Plan-B options the team will now consider: Daniel Murphy and Neil Walker.
We’ve exhausted dozens of articles on Murphy and it’s safe to say that most of us know what we can expect from him offensively and defensively. So let’s take a closer look at Neil Walker, who I profiled just last week.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been aggressively shopping Walker as he enters his final year of arbitration. The Bucs have talked to a number of teams already, most recently with the Baltimore Orioles, but according to beat reporter Rob Biertempfel, the Mets have also expressed interest in the Pirates second baseman.
Jon Heyman reported this morning, that the Nationals are also interested in Walker as well as the Mets, so we’re not alone in our interest in him.
Walker, 30, batted .269 with a .328 on-base last season with 32 doubles, 16 home runs and 71 RBI. His 108 wRC+ was a steep drop from the 131 he posted in 2014 and his fWAR shrank from 3.7 to 2.4.
A former first round pick, Walker has regressed a little defensively at second base and had -2 Defensive Runs Saved last season with a -6.4 Ultimate Zone Rating. He’s not terrible, but just a notch below average.
Walker earned $8 million in 2015 and could earn close to $11 million in arbitration this offseason, a sum that is too rich for the Pirates who can turn to Josh Harrison at second base if they deal Walker. He becomes eligible for free agency after the 2016 season.
A fan favorite in Pittsburgh since debuting in 2010, Walker has had a very productive career with the Bucs. Among the 22 second basemen with at least 2,000 plate appearances over the last six seasons, Walker is fifth in homers (93), fifth in RBI (418), and third in slugging (.443).
Walker could make some sense for the Mets as a one-year stopgap until they know for certain that Dilson Herrera is ready. The front office had no problem putting Herrera back on track for another year at Triple-A during their pursuit of Zobrist who was told he’d be primarily a second baseman for the Mets.
The $10-11 million Walker could earn in arbitration is a significantly less than what Daniel Murphy will get annually in free agency, and obviously the former Met will also require a four year commitment.
Offensively, Walker is a tick better than Murphy based on his wOBA, wRC+ and Wins Above Replacement. He’s got a reputation for being a great clubhouse guy and is an intense competitor much like Murphy was.
But another reason why Walker makes more sense than Murphy is actually quite considerable. I’m referring to the draft pick the Mets will get if Murphy signs elsewhere. If the Mets sign Murphy, they lose the pick.
So essentially it boils down to this…
Would you rather have Neil Walker at $10 million for one year and a top draft pick, or Daniel Murphy for four years at $52 million and no draft pick?
Of course it all boils down to what the Mets would have to give up to get Walker. But on the plus side it shouldn’t cost any of our top young arms (Isn’t that refreshing?) and it appears the Pirates are very anxious to unload him and his salary. Walker is not perfect, but for a one-year stopgap he makes a lot of sense.
(Updated 12/9)
