On Sunday, Sandy Alderson said the Mets were all-in for 2017 and even hinted that they are working on a contract extension with Neil Walker. On Monday morning the contract extension talks were heating up and the Mets were reportedly close to a deal with Neil! By Monday at noon the extension talks had hit a snag and were all but dead. And by Tuesday evening the Mets had made “no progress” on any deal with Walker but indicated a deal was “definitely not dead.”

That news cycle of garbage serves as yet another perfect example of the mainstream media’s “Mets Cycle Of Interest.” The cycle of interest can be seen in literally every single BS rumor that involves the Mets. Whether it’s the team’s interest in signing a new player or paying big bucks to extend an existing one, the cycle is always the same.

In regards to the actual pros and cons of a Neil Walker extension, I can honestly see both sides of the debate.

Signing Neil Walker to a three year extension before the 2017 season is the kind of risky gamble on a player’s health that a big market club would consider taking. If the Mets have confidence in the early medical reports surrounding Walker, then it would totally make sense to try and lock him up on a team friendly three year deal before he hits the open market and potentially lands a four or five year deal.

On the other hand, Neil Walker is a 31 year old player with back issues and you know as soon as he signs on the dotted line that METS disease will spread from his back to every other part of his body.

Based on some of the articles printed about the possible Walker extension, it would seem that the Mets are factoring “versatility” into their opinion of Neil’s overall value. That’s somewhat confusing considering he’s logged 913 games at second base over 8 major league seasons and only 15 games at any other position. But the Mets like to pretend that Walker is a totally viable option at first base and third based on nothing and who am I to say they’re wrong?

The Walker extension debate is really just another reminder of how much Sandy and his team blew the Daniel Murphy contract evaluation. They all sat in a room and agreed that Murphy’s playoff power display was a fluke and that his versatility wasn’t worth all that much. Whoops!

For now, Neil Walkyear lives on. If we don’t extend Walker, I’m sure we’ll be “interested” in bringing Murph back to Queens in two years.