FORMER MET
Neil’s deal with Yanks good for both,
TAMPA — Did anyone truly think the Yankees would go into the 2018 season without proven insurance against the youngsters they told you all winter and into spring training would be manning starting positions on the infield?
If so, you probably also believed the Bombers actually planned to start the 2006 season with Bubba Crosby in center field, right up until they inked free agent Johnny Damon.
Just as they did when obtaining versatile infielder Brandon Drury from Arizona shortly after camp began, the Yanks bought more time for top prospect Gleyber Torres to work his way back from major elbow surgery with the low-risk signing of former Mets second baseman Neil Walker on Monday.
The one-year bargain-rate deal is worth $4 million — with another $500k potentially in plate-appearance incentives (starting at 425 in increments of 25 through 500) — and yes, it still keeps the Yanks comfortably below the $197 million luxury tax threshold.
According to Walker, this was the only firm offer he received in a ridiculously muted free-agent market, but it’s an ideal bridge move for GM Brian Cashman and the Yanks while they wait for the 21-yearold Torres, who likely is ticketed for more seasoning at Triple-A Scranton.
“It was certainly a crazy offseason, but more than anything, my hope was that I’d land somewhere that was going to be competitive and had a chance to win. At the end of the day, I can’t really control what happened in the offseason, I’m just happy to be on a contending team,” Walker said upon arriving barely an hour before Monday’s game against the Twins. “We had some talks earlier in the offseason that didn’t quite work out, but when it came down to it, I didn’t have an offer from anybody until three days ago. That was certainly frustrating.
“But you look around here and there’s arguably the best group of guys there is in the league.”
After advancing within one win of the World Series last fall, the Yanks atypically had entered camp with rookies — namely Miguel Andujar and either Torres or Tyler Wade — atop the depth charts at third base and second base, respectively.
Both Cashman and first-year manager Aaron Boone indicated that won’t immediately change while the 32-yearold Walker plays his way back into game shape with barely two weeks remaining before Opening Day.
Still, Andujar has leveled off following an early spring power surge, Wade appears well-suited for a utility role and Torres has hit .130 (3-for-23) with no RBI since undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery on his left (non-throwing) elbow last