Before the 2015 offseason, the qualifying offer system was seen as a gentleman’s agreement.  Teams would offer it, and players would agree to decline it and seek a multi-year contract in free agency.  However, over time that agreement started to become a big issue for players.  Teams began to shy away from signing players who received qualifying offers because they did not want to lose a first round draft pick.  This began reducing the market for the proverbial second-tier free agent, which in turn, also reduced the size of the player’s contract.  The end result was Colby Rasmus, Matt Wieters, and Brett Anderson accepting the qualifying offer.

It probably turned out to be the right move as those players were not likely to receive long-term deals in free agency.  If they were to receive an offer, the total contract value most likely wasn’t going to reach the $15.8 million, they were going to receive by accepting the offer.  The case in point on this was Ian Desmond having to accept a one year $8 million contract from the Texas Rangers.  Seeing the issues with these three players, it is increasingly more likely that players will accept qualifying offers this offseason.

It is exactly why the Mets cannot offer Neil Walker the qualifying offer.

Under normal circumstances offering Walker a qualifying offer would be seen as a given.  Walker was coming off a career year at both the plate and in the field.  He matched his career high in homers and set a career high in slugging percentage.  He even began hitting well from the right side almost doubling his career home run total as a right-handed batter.  In the field, Walker posted his best ever UZR (by a long shot) and his best ever DRS.  Overall, Walker was at his absolute best in every part of the game in the 2016 season.  Given the very weak free agent market, he was definitively going to be the best second baseman on the market, and he was set to cash-in.

He’s not now.  During this career best season, Walker had periods where he had numbness in his feet related to a herniated disc.  Even with the numbness, Walker was hitting .389/.450/.667 with six homers and 10 RBI in 18 August games.  He was having his best month of the season while he was trying to help the Mets rally back to the postseason.  Despite having his best stretch all season long and the Mets needing his bat in the lineup and glove on the field, Walker had to have season ending back surgery.  At the time, it was seen as a critical blow to not just the Mets postseason chances, but also to Walker’s future earnings in free agency.

The main issue with Walker is you don’t know what he is going to be next season.  Will the microdiscectomy surgery decrease his mobility in the field?  Will the surgery sap him of some of his power at the plate?  Will he full recover and return to the numbers he was at during the 2016 season?  We do not know the answer to any of these questions.  However, with Walker entering his age 31 season, there should be some expectation of decline even without the back surgery.

Now, these questions shouldn’t preclude the Mets from attempting to bring Walker back next season.  He should be a better option at second base next year than Gavin Cecchini, Wilmer Flores, Jose Reyes, or T.J. Rivera.  However, he is not $16 million better than those options.  That $16 million matters in an offseason where players like Jacob deGrom are entering their arbitration years, the Mets picking up the $13 million option on Jay Bruce, and Yoenis Cespedes likely to be a free agent after presumably opting out of his contract.   If Walker was to accept the qualifying offer, which is very likely at this point, it could mean the end of Cespedes in a Mets uniform.

As we already know, the Mets have a number of players in place who can step up and take over the second base position should Walker leave in free agency.  However, as we already know, the Mets cannot replace Cespedes’ bat in the lineup.  When the risk is Cespedes, and you really don’t know what Walker can contribute next season, it’s really not much of a debate.  The Mets cannot make a qualifying offer to Walker.

Of with this being a bad idea, we know that could only mean one thing.  The Mets are going to absolutely extend Walker a qualifying offer today.

Editor’s Note: this was first published on Mets Merized Online