New York Mets: Five Holes That Need Filling For 2017

Last December, Sandy Alderson, the General Manager of the New York Mets, all but hung a sign outside his office that read, “Zobrist Inc.”. Like many other teams, Alderson was enamored with the versatile Ben Zobrist and it appeared that he was willing to meet the 35 year olds monetary demands.

But as we know, the Chicago Cubs swooped in at the last minute and grabbed him away from a clearly disappointed and somewhat chagrined Sandy Alderson. Second choice? Well, that was just it. There wasn’t one.

But then, things quickly turned for the better when he was able to deal for Neil Walker in exchange for the very expendable Jon Niese, who at the time was thought to be overkill on the team’s starting staff.

Walker took over the job at second base and never gave it back until he went down with a season ending back injury on August 26. Until then, he was Mr. Reliable though playing a confident second base and remarkably hitting 23 home runs after having averaged only 15 the previous seven years.

Neil Walker is a free agent this year and the Mets can’t afford to let him walk. The Mets are toying with the idea that they can platoon Wilmer Flores, who also didn’t make it to the end of the season with a wrist injury, and T J Rivera, who came out of nowhere putting up some good numbers ending the season as the Mets regular second baseman.

So while there could be a stopgap solution to not signing Walker, there’s no substitute for the professionalism that Walker takes to the field and those all impressive intangibles that he brings to the clubhouse.

Plus, his money may have come down with the back injury as they can return and be rather balky at times. Wrap him up with a big Christmas bow and let’s move forward………