Report: Neil Walker Takes Qualifying Offer

Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted Monday afternoon that Neil Walker would indeed take the Mets qualifying offer of $17.2 million.

The move was not particularly shocking. While coming off a fine year in which he hit 23 home runs, Walker is also coming off back surgery. It can be assumed his agent surveyed the market and found that a big money, long-term deal was not in the offing, so they took the money and ran.

This is not the worst thing for the Mets. While $17.2 is a lot of money for Neil Walker, it is only a one-year commitment. And after losing Bartolo Colon, the Mets had some cash freed up.

So now the second base spot is nailed down — and possibly third base, if David Wright cannot recover from his own injury troubles.