Long-time Major League-second baseman Neil Walker retired from baseball at the age of 35. Walker shared the news with WFAN’s Sweeny Murti as a guest on the podcast “30 for Murti”.
Born in Pittsburgh, Walker was a first-round pick (No. 11) of his hometown of Pirates in 2004. Five years later, Walker made a 17-game big league debut, becoming both a regular and consistently solid contributor at the start of the next season. In a game of 3,386 records from 2010-15, the switch-hitting Walker posted five seasons of at least 2.4 fWAR (including a career-high 4.1 in 2014, when he won a Silver Slugger Award), hitting .273 /. 338 / .443 with 93 home runs.
Walker’s time with the Pirates ended when they traded him to the Mets for left-handers Jon Niese prior to the 2016 campaign. The move didn’t work at all for the Bucs, with whom production of Niese gained momentum, although Walker continued to perform well in Queens. He hit .275 / .344 / .462 and hit 33 HRs over 757 PA in a Mets uniform in parts of two seasons, but as the team was out of the fight in late 2017, it traded him for the long run to the Brewers.
Walker did not re-sign with the Brewers, but returned to New York after a $ 4 million warranty with the Yankees. With a .219 / .309 / .354 line in 398 trips to the record, Walker turned his worst offensive season as a normal in 2018. He enjoyed a bit of a bounce-back campaign the following season with a $ deal. 2 million as a member of the Marlins, although he still had to settle for a minor league contract with the Phillies for 2020. Although Walker made it to the majors for a 12th consecutive season, he struggled enough over 18 games that the Phillies won him over. for assignment in September.
Although Walker had a less-than-ideal ending, he still enjoyed a far more successful and lucrative career than the vast majority of the top ranks. He will finish with a .267 / .338 / .426 line, 149 homers and 21.6 fWAR / 19.6 rWAR over 1,306 games and 5,152 trips to the record. Walker also made nearly $ 52 million in the bigs, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
MLBTR congratulates Walker on an impressive career and wishes him the best in retirement.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.