In the middle of Spring Training, the Yankees took advantage of the slow free agent market and signed veteran infielder Neil Walker to a one-year deal worth $4M. Walker is not a $4M player. He hit .265/.362/.439 (114 wRC+) last year and had been no worse than a +2 WAR player every season from 2010-17. Dude could play. The market screwed him over.
For the first few weeks of this season, Walker did nothing to justify all the talk about him being such a bargain. He didn’t hit much, and with Tyler Austin coming out of the gate strong, Walker found himself on the bench more often than not.