The Milwaukee Brewers finally decided to do something about their lack of production at second base.
The Brewers agreed to acquire veteran switch-hitter Neil Walker from the New York Mets on Saturday, providing another option for the final six weeks of the season at second base. What the Brewers gave up to pick up Walker was not immediately known but one report out of New York said it would be a player to be named later.
The trade came as the Brewers tried to reverse a downward spiral since the All-Star break. Over a four-week period, they were 9-18, dropping from 5{ games atop the NL Central to a third-place tie with Pittsburgh, three games behind Chicago.
Reports of the deal surfaced while the Mets were taking batting practice in Philadelphia before their game against the Phillies. Neither team confirmed the trade before their respective games began but Walker was scratched from the Mets' starting lineup.
Jonathan Villar, counted upon to be the regular second baseman after a big 2016 season at shortstop, has been mired in a season-long offensive slump. Eric Sogard, who provided a boost by swinging a hot bat when called up in mid-May, hasn't been the same since injuring an ankle in early July.
Overall, the Brewers' .672 OPS at second base was the lowest in the National League.
Walker, who will be 32 in September, played seven seasons with Pittsburgh before being traded to the Mets after the 2015 season, so the Brewers are familiar with what he can do on the field.
He missed six weeks with a torn hamstring this season and has played in only 73 games, batting .264 with a .339 on-base percentage and .442 slugging percentage, with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. Walker had struggled since returning from the DL until his last two games, when he went 6 for 9 with a home run.
Walker, who is a free agent after the season, has a $17.2 million salary after accepting the Mets' qualifying offer last winter. That would leave more than $4 million remaining for the season, and there were reports that New York would assume some of that money.
A report recently surfaced that the Mets agreed on a deal to send Walker to the Yankees before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but the Yankees backed out over concerns over his medical reports. Walker was upset about that report, saying recently he was completely healthy.
Villar had a solid game Friday night in an 11-10 loss to Cincinnati, with three hits, including a home run, and two RBIs but has struggled overall at the plate. In 95 games entering Saturday, he was batting .222 with a .281 OBP and .627 OPS. He also had committed 14 errors, most at his position in the National League.
Sogard took playing time away from Villar when he came up and swung a hot bat, batting .338 in May and June with a .435 OBP. In 17 games since returning from his ankle injury, however, he was batting only .116, prompting manager Craig Counsell to start playing Villar more.
Villar was the Brewers' starting shortstop for most of last season and was a force on offense, batting .285 with 19 home runs, 63 runs batted in, .369 on-base percentage, .826 OPS and major league-leading 62 stolen bases. But, after being moved to second base this spring, he never got going at the plate.
"He's had two dramatically different seasons," manager Craig Counsell said before the Brewers' game against Cincinnati. "It makes it challenging (to assess him as a player), for sure. There's not an easy answer there. Players do have tough seasons. That's part of this.
"He's a young player (26). He has shown the ability to do good things. It hasn't clicked this year. We have to project what's next. That's what's important. The past goes into that but other things go into that."
You often have to take the good with the bad with Villar. Even on Friday night, when he went 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBI in an 11-10 loss to the Reds, he hurt the team in the field with two errors in one inning.
"I said the first week of the season that second base was going to be a project," Counsell said. "There have been some mistakes the last couple of games but I do think he has improved defensively at second base as the season went on.
"There's a ways to go and there's still room for more improvement. I think that's going to be his best position, certainly in the infield. We have to keep seeing improvement, defensively, because that's part of the equation. We have to get to average major league defenders, at minimum, at every position.
"Johnny is a worker; he's a real competitive kid. Offensively, it's been a struggle this year, there's no question. Defensively, like I said, we've seen improvement but there's room for more."
