The Mets signed Donovan Walton to a minor league contract, in keeping with the infielder’s MLB.com profile web page. Walton elected to turn out to be a free agent at first of November when the Giants outrighted him off their 40-man roster — since Walton had beforehand been outrighted in his profession, he has the fitting to decide at no cost company fairly than settle for one other outright project.
The 30-year-old appeared in 9 video games after San Francisco chosen Walton’s contract to the energetic roster in mid-September, which marked Walton’s first huge league taking part in time since 2022. Walton broke into the majors with the Mariners in 2019 and performed in 37 video games over components of 4 seasons earlier than Seattle traded him to the Giants in Might 2022. That season was minimize quick by a shoulder surgical procedure that additionally saved him on the shelf for a superb chunk of the 2023 marketing campaign, as Walton spent the whole lot of that season within the Giants’ minor league system.
If the 2023 season was nearly getting again to good well being for Walton, he regarded sharper this season in hitting .306/.380/.441 over 387 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento. This roughly matches his .287/.370/.454 slash line throughout 975 profession PA on the Triple-A stage, however Walton hasn’t been capable of carry that manufacturing into the Present, as he has hit solely .174/.227/.305 in 205 PA with the Mariners and Giants.
Walton has largely cut up his time between the 2 center infield positions, although he has some expertise as a 3rd baseman and left fielder. Although his lack of offense limits his ceiling, Walton is a left-handed hitter who can play a number of positions, making him an attention-grabbing possibility for groups seeking to fill out a roster. The Mets can provide Walton a glance throughout Spring Coaching and see what he can convey to the desk as a depth piece for both the large league squad or at Triple-A.
