Mets trade Neil Walker to Brewers

UPDATE (Sept. 12): The Brewers traded right-hander Eric Hanhold to the Mets to complete the deal, according to a team announcement.

Hanhold, 23, was Milwaukee’s sixth-round selection in the 2015 draft and pitched to an 8-3 record and 4.64 ERA in 64 innings as both a starter and reliever this season at Hi-A Carolina.

Hanhold does not rank among MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Brewers prospects and has struggled in the minors to this point. He joins Jamie Callahan, Jacob Rhame and Drew Smith as hard-throwing relievers acquired by the Mets in recent trades.
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ORIGINAL: The Mets have traded second baseman Neil Walker to the Brewers for a player to be named later, as first reported by FOX’s Ken Rosenthal. New York will reportedly pay some of the $5 million due to Walker for the rest of this season.

Walker, who cleared revocable trade waivers, is the fourth Mets veteran shipped out of town in the last two months. New York, looking to move all of its pending free agents in trades, has already dealt Lucas Duda to Tampa Bay, Addison Reed to Boston and Jay Bruce to Cleveland.

Milwaukee has been on the lookout for second base help since last month, prioritizing an upgrade over Eric Sogard and Jonathan Villar. The club expressed interest in Detroit’s Ian Kinsler before the non-waiver trade deadline while also discussing then-Tigers reliever Justin Wilson.

Walker, who turns 32 next month, owns a .264/.339/.442 with 10 homers and 36 RBI in 73 games for the Mets this season. He returned to New York for his second season with the club last November, accepting the club’s $17.1 million qualifying offer instead of testing free agency.

Walker is a free agent again this year and is ineligible to receive a qualifying offer. He’ll man second base for the third-place Brewers for the season’s final six weeks, returning to the division where he spent the first seven years of his career with the Pirates.