The Mets signed Donovan Walton to a minor league contract, according to the infielder’s MLB.com profile page. Walton elected to become a free agent at the start of November when the Giants outrighted him off their 40-man roster — since Walton had previously been outrighted in his career, he has the right to opt for free agency rather than accept another outright assignment.
The 30-year-old appeared in nine games after San Francisco selected Walton’s contract to the active roster in mid-September, which marked Walton’s first big league playing time since 2022. Walton broke into the majors with the Mariners in 2019 and played in 37 games over parts of four seasons before Seattle traded him to the Giants in May 2022. That season was cut short by a shoulder surgery that also kept him on the shelf for a good chunk of the 2023 campaign, as Walton spent the entirety of that season in the Giants’ minor league system.
If the 2023 season was just about getting back to good health for Walton, he looked sharper this season in hitting .306/.380/.441 over 387 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento. This more or less matches his .287/.370/.454 slash line across 975 career PA at the Triple-A level, but Walton hasn’t been able to carry that production into the Show, as he has hit only .174/.227/.305 in 205 PA with the Mariners and Giants.
Walton has mostly split his time between the two middle infield positions, though he has some experience as a third baseman and left fielder. Though his lack of offense limits his ceiling, Walton is a left-handed hitter who can play multiple positions, making him an interesting option for teams looking to fill out a roster. The Mets can give Walton a look during Spring Training and see what he can bring to the table as a depth piece for either the big league squad or at Triple-A.
davidk1979
Blockbuster!
Kruk it
I guess Jerome Walton is too old!!
Old York
Nice. I predicted one of the free agent signings.
Joe says...
Cohen not waiting around for Soto to make up his mind.
YankeesBleacherCreature
So are you saying there’s a non-0% chance Soto accepts the Q.O.?
PiazzaParty
The fact that the first point of business for the Mets isn’t Juan Soto shows how stupid they are. I mean just look at facts: they signed Donovan Walton first because they think he’s the better priority eg the better player therefore they’re dumb. I said predicted all of this in June 1999 which was 19 years before David Stearns was an executive so that’s 19 standard deviations smarter than everyone else here. Simple math folks. Being as it’s already a proven fact that I’m a genius lemme illuminate you morons to the simple fact that David Stearns is clearly bad at his job and that they’re gonna go dumpster diving and picking up scraps because they’re the Mutts. Yes it’s all very simple logic. I’m a banned expert too btw fyi
Gomez Toth
You require medical attention.
PiazzaParty
You seriously thought that was a genuine comment? I assumed it would be pretty clear it’s sarcastic. I guess that’s my bad but JFC it really goes to show how stupid this actual place is that my over-the-top sarcastic idiot comment was considered legitimate
Blue Baron
What an astonishingly dumb post, even for a guy with the handle Don’tBeDumb.
I mean, I mean, I mean…How can you tell people not to be dumb when you’re this dumb yourself?
The hypocrisy boggles the mind.
PiazzaParty
Relax Baron, I thought you could identify nonsense more readily. It’s quite clearly not a serious comment.
Blue Baron
Don’tBeDumb: And I thought you were better at reading comprehension than you obviously are.
The entire thrust of my response was readily identifying your comment as stupid and nonsensical.
But on a serious note, don’t be dumb if at all possible.
PiazzaParty
I have self owned
Steinbrenner2728
The only takeaway from this comment is that this is why it’s best to avoid being a “LFGMets (Consistently banned expert)” on MLBTR.
Sunday Lasagna
@Dontbedumb Can you post on every article? …….amazing, astounding and very entertaining
gravel
Thank you Mets.