In a kind of shocking trade on Wednesday, the Pirates traded starting 2nd basemen Neil Walker to the Mets for starting pitcher Jonathon Niese. The Mets weren’t really interested in re-signing Daniel Murphy this offseason, so it was obvious that they needed a new 2nd basemen to replace him. Walker has tremendous offensive potential as he hit .269 with 16 home runs and 71 RBI’s last season with Pittsburgh. He might even be an upgrade over Murphy at 2nd base and considering that the Mets only gave up Niese then this is a great trade for them. Meanwhile, Niese will be heading to Pittsburgh in the trade where he will be the number 5 starting pitcher in the Pirates rotation. Niese is a decent pitcher as he had a 4.10 ERA in 2015, but he is clearly not as valuable as Walker was to the Pirates at 2nd base. I would have liked to see Pittsburgh get better value in this deal and I’m not sure who Pittsburgh plans to replace Walker with at 2nd base. Josh Harrison is the likely replacement, but the Pirates still might choose to address the position sometime soon.
Grade: A – Neil Walker is a very good 2nd basemen and he will provide stability at the position for the Mets. New York didn’t need Niese anymore and considering that is all they had to give up in this trade is a win for the Mets.
Grade: D+ – I just don’t see why the Pirates would get rid of a solid 2nd basemen like Neil Walker especially since they only got a number 5 starter for their rotation in return.
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