New York Mets: Grading the Neil Walker for Jon Niese Trade

Just one day after their crosstown rivals traded away a pitcher for a second baseman, the New York Mets do the same thing. They parted ways with long time Met Jon Niese in order to acquire Neil Walker from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The move shuts the door on any possibility of Daniel Murphy being signed back to the club, but that may be a good thing.

If the Mets were to sign Murphy back, he would have cost more money than Walker, and would have required a long term commitment upwards of three years. The Mets don’t want a second baseman for that long. They still like the upside of Dilson Herrera, but they probably weren’t comfortable with him becoming an everyday starter in the big leagues, hence this trade. Walker gets paid similar to Niese, and more importantly, they only have to commit to him for a year.

Walker is also a slight upgrade over Murphy. While playing in Pittsburgh for seven seasons, Walker’s defensive WAR has totaled 0.6, while Murphy’s seven years in New York has totaled a sloppy -2.6. This might lead you to believe that the Mets will be sacrificing some offense, but that is not the case. Walker’s offensive WAR has totaled 17.5 while Murphy is almost three points behind with 14.8. Historically, Walker has been slightly better than Murphy in terms of On-base percentage and home run totals, but who knows how Citi Field will affect him.

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This move was also the Mets backup plan to not signing Ben Zobrist. Many teams would have loved to have the luxury of possessing a player like Zobrist, who can play every day and just about every position. Walker is not that guy, but now the Mets can use either Ruben Tejada or Wilmer Flores as the backup infielder. Both of them have experience at third, short, and second base. My guess would be Tejada begins the year as the starting shortstop with Flores recently breaking his ankle in winter ball. I suspect he will be rusty both offensively and defensively, at least in the early stages of the 2016 season.

As for departing with Niese, this is a clear case of the Mets having a surplus of pitching. It’s a good problem to have, but now they have to start thinking about who will be their number five starter until Zack Wheeler returns from Tommy John surgery. There are plenty of affordable options on the free agent market, including one who the Mets are familiar with. Recent news suggests that Bartolo Colon may return to the Mets on a one year deal to start the year as the fifth starter and then slide into the bullpen, which was a role he performed well in during the postseason.

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Overall, this trade gets an A-. They cleared up a position that was up in arms for the 2016 season by acquiring an affordable and experienced bat. Walker is also a switch hitter, and is probably going to be the only switch hitter in the lineup. This is great for Terry Collins, who seriously takes into account a player’s handedness when composing a lineup. The only downside is that their rotation loses a left-handed pitcher who could have started the year as the fifth starter. But that isn’t really a downside when there are plenty of options to fill that role.

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