Qualifying offer set: How will Mets handle Neil Walker?
Starting second baseman is one of the main areas of concern for Mets this offseason.
The qualifying offer for the upcoming MLB offseason has been set at $17.2 million. The New York Mets are now in an interesting scenario as it pertains to Neil Walker, who is set to become a free agent. The simple question: do the Mets extend a qualifying offer to Walker a month after he had back surgery?
With Walker, there are a few factors in play. One thing’s for sure: as a Met, Walker was on his way to a career-year at the plate and had already matched his season-high in home runs in 113 games played.
A year after New York let Daniel Murphy walk, you can understand how they could be shy about letting Walker go.
Plus, the Mets traded away Dilson Herrera, who at this time last year, figured to be next in line at second base. T.J. Rivera racked up the hits immediately after his callup. However, I still tend to believe the Mets will want to be on the side of keeping Walker around at least for another year.
Another question is what the market would be for Walker. At 31 years old, he has turned in a pretty consistent career. The overwhelming issue has been his injury history, which would be a risk for the Mets or any other team to take. You know what you’re getting, you just don’t know how many games you’ll get it for.
I would think some other team would be willing to take a chance and though the Mets would get compensation, it would leave a spot to fill at the plate and in the field where Walker has been solid.
From Walker’s perspective, he could accept the qualifying offer to build other teams’ trust that he can in fact stay on the field for a full season. That in turn could net him an even better offer in free agency next year than he would get this offseason.
In his Major League service to date, Walker has missed at least 25 games in five of his seven seasons.
In what has become a long list of injury concerns, the Walker situation is one of the more interesting subplots to the Mets’ upcoming winter.
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