Credit
Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports, via Reuters
PHILADELPHIA — As Mets infielder Neil Walker took batting practice at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday, word spread that a trade would soon send him to the Milwaukee Brewers, who are in the thick of the National League wild-card race.
Walker was scratched from the starting lineup just before the first pitch of the game, a 3-1 Mets loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, and left the visitors’ clubhouse with his belongings in the sixth inning. Walker declined to comment as he departed with one of the team’s public relations officials by his side.
The deal was not officially announced until after the game: Walker to the Brewers for a player to be named later. The Mets will also pay an undisclosed portion of Walker’s remaining salary, which was about $4.7 million.
In the midst of a disappointing season, the Mets are already looking toward 2018. Over the past two and a half…
