With Neil Walker‘s impending free agency and season-ending back surgery, one of the questions the New York Mets will face next season is who will be their second baseman?
Neil Walker was one of the Mets’ most productive hitters of late. During August he hit . 389 with an OPS of 1.117. That’s a big bat to replace in the middle of the order. He’s hit .347 in the second half of the season after going through an awful June where he hit just .214.
With all the injuries the Mets have had throughout this season, Walker was one of the few bats they could count on day in and day out, and now he is finished.
The Mets went through this after last season. Daniel Murphy was a free agent and after he left the Mets added Walker in a trade with the Pirates.
The Mets are going to go with a combination of Kelly Johnson, Wilmer Flores and T.J. Rivera to play second base the rest of the way.
While they have to finish this season out and are right in the thick of the Wild Card chase, GM Sandy Alderson and the front office are certainly thinking about 2017 and what to do at the position.
Next year’s free agent class isn’t exactly the best, so the Mets are going to need to figure out where they go at the position. Walker’s back surgery certainly throws another question into the mix.
So where do the Mets go at this position for 2017? Here are five options.
Next: Their current option