The Phillies acquired non-roster infielder Donovan Walton from the Mets for cash considerations. The deal was announced by Philly’s Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley, where Walton was assigned. He was not on New York’s 40-man roster and therefore will not occupy an immediate roster spot with Philadelphia.
Walton, a lefty-hitting utility player, signed a minor league contract with the Mets in November. The 31-year-old has been playing for their top affiliate in Syracuse. Walton has connected on 11 home runs but has a subpar .222/.315/.377 slash line through 295 plate appearances. That’s despite solid strikeout and walk rates and driven largely by a .220 batting average on balls in play. Walton has a career .271/.357/.436 mark in more than 300 Triple-A games.
A former fifth-round pick of the Mariners, Walton has seen scattered big league action over five years. He has split that time between Seattle and San Francisco, most recently spending the final few weeks of last season on the Giants’ big league roster. Walton hasn’t made an impact against MLB pitching, batting .174/.227/.305 over 70 games. He’s primarily a middle infielder but has experience at both third base and in left field.
The Phils were lacking infield depth in the upper minors. Weston Wilson, who is primarily a bat-first corner player, is the only infielder on the 40-man roster who isn’t in the big leagues. Christian Arroyo, their most experienced non-roster infielder, is on the injured list at Lehigh Valley. Walton joins Rodolfo Castro as IronPigs’ middle infielders who have some MLB time on their résumés.
Rare trade between division rivals at the moment.
Such a minor inconsequential transaction barely qualifies as a trade.
Can I take your recycling bin out to the curb? That’s about the depth of the “trade”.
Blue
Isn’t calling it “minor inconsequential” redundant or unnecessary? LOL
I mean aren’t all inconsequential deals “minor” as well?
Walton has four more MLB home runs than either I or you will ever hit.
Have a nice week – the close NL division and WC races are fun.
True!
Not all minor deals are inconsequential
Wonder what’s in STORE for WALTON?
Will WALTON finally climb the MOUNTAIN of success?
There’s a Walmart joke in here somewhere.
Boston’s: Unfortunately such a small one that you can’t find it.
Goodnight, John Boy.
Anyone else thinks Dave Parker’s death is suspicious?
I’m surprised he lived this long.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2012.
Nothing Burger for a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich! Who gets Cash Considerations?
“Desth is suspicious”..No. It’s just you. His health had been declining for quite a while now.
Let the man rest in peace.
Not surprised. Dollar Store David Stearns just made his big mid season trade for his favorite player, Cash Considerations. Cutting payroll is always his top priority. Lets just wait a month for the trade deadline to occur and lose our 9 game lead over the Braves and our above average win loss record while our bullpen and rotation are currently depleted, that will show them David! I forcast Dollar Tree David to give the usual Aaron Boone style trade deadline approach “well we are getting Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Tylor Megill, Jessie Winker, Alvarez, and Jose Siri back from the DL, thats just as good as any moves that we could of made at the deadline”. Loser mentality, which is why after being the GM of the Brewers for 8 years that they never made a World Series. Can’t wait to be disappointed again. I’m sure the delusional Mets fans will disagree with me, telling me Stearns has done a fantastic job and that hes not cheap because he signed Soto (which was 100% a Cohen move)
Relax, big boy. Its early. There is no limit on how many transactions Sterns can make. There will be some exciting waiver claims to be made in the future. Its extremely hard to to take anything you say seriously when your conclusion is in your screen name. Twist away.
Really! Stearns has a loser’s mentality, good to know! He was awful with Milwaukee, good to know!. It’s interesting to hear that you possess inside information to the effect that Stearns advised Cohen against signing Soto. Your insights are precious, keep them coming!
@Joel from NY Which World Series has Stearns won? He is a loser
If I’m an AA infielder in Reading, I’m like: “Really?!”
If there is any underlining meaning to the deal, it is potentially twofold – they don’t expect to get Buddy Kennedy back, and they do expect to give some run to Kemp in the majors. Hence the need for some more AAA depth that can be used in a pinch.
The AAA team was as good as we have seen for quite a stretch, but as the Phils poach from the roster and make moves for the club it is natural to lose out on available talent.
What about Sunbury, Pa. native Nick Dunn, already at AAA with the Phillies and recently acquired from Seattle?
He’s Dunn
See folks, you don’t stay up late to watch the transactions and you miss out on a whole world of major acquisitions.
Most of these exec and players are friendly and collegial. Same with players.
Not the 1989 blockbuster between the Phillies and Mets when Juan Samuel was traded for Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell.
In the early 2000s the Phillies and Mets did a deal sending the shark tooth necklace wearing reliever Turk Wendell along with former Phillies Dennis Cook and Todd Pratt.
More recently, the Mets traded Asdrubel Cabrera to the Phils in 2018. And then Jason Vargas the next year.
I totally forgot about Cabrera. I just think Cleveland with him. Good one. And Vargas looked like the actor Vincent Schiavelli.