Mets trade Neil Walker to Brewers

The Mets’ fire sale has continued with Neil Walker heading to the Brewers. Walker joins Lucas Duda, Jay Bruce, and Addison Reed as Mets who have been traded these past few weeks.

The Mets will get a player to be named later for Walker, and it’s possible the team will send some money to offset Walker’s remaining salary for 2017. Walker was originally in tonight’s lineup but has been replaced by Jose Reyes.

Walker could have been on the move earlier, but the Yankees nixed a trade at the July 31 deadline when they expressed concern over his medicals. It’s hard to forget that Milwaukee was where medical records played an important part in a trade that wasn’t made two years ago. He was a solid contributor when healthy in his relatively brief tenure with the Mets. He arrived from the Pirates before the 2016 season when he was traded for Jonathon Niese. He came in as a replacement for Daniel Murphy, who the Mets decided not to sign after the 2015 season.

Injuries prevented Walker from finishing the 2016 season, and injuries again hampered his production in 2017. He struggled since returning from the disabled list, but Citizens Bank Park cures all and he looked much better at the plate this series while filling in at third base. Walker finishes his Mets career batting .275/.344/.462 with 33 home runs and 91 RBIs in 186 games.