Walker to Mets, Miller to D-backs in winter meetings trades
(AP) — The National League champion New York Mets filled a key spot by obtaining second baseman Neil Walker from Pittsburgh for pitcher Jon Niese, and the Detroit Tigers bolstered their bullpen by acquiring reliever Justin Wilson from the New York Yankees in Wednesday trades at the winter meetings.
A day after finalizing a $206.5 million deal for major league ERA leader Zack Greinke, they announced their five-player swap with Atlanta that brought All-Star righty Shelby Miller and sent No. 1 draft pick Dansby Swanson to the Braves.
Davis appears set to establish the top of the batters' market after hitting 159 home runs in a four-year span.
The 30-year-old Walker fills the hole created when playoff slugger Daniel Murphy became a free agent after New York lost the World Series to Kansas City.
The Yankees dealt Wilson, a 28-year-old lefty, to Detroit for minor league right-handers Chad Green and Luis Cessa — the latter sent by the Mets to the Tigers in the July 31 trade that brought Yoenis Cespedes to New York.
— Major League Baseball recommended teams have protective netting between the dugouts for any field-level seats within 70 feet of home plate, both at regular-season ballparks and spring training sites.
— Oakland made two more moves to boost its pitching staff, dealing third baseman Brett Lawrie to the Chicago White Sox for a pair of minor league pitchers: right-hander J.B. Wendelken and minor league left-hander Zack Erwin.
The Athletics also agreed with right-hander John Axford on a $10 million, two-year contract, pending a physical, a person with knowledge of the agreement said on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced.