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Report: Extension talks between Mets, Walker have 'hit a snag'

Kelvin Kuo / USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson acknowledged meeting with the agent for second baseman Neil Walker on Saturday, with sources indicating a three-year extension in the $40-million range had been bandied about, but it appears contract talks have hit a snag, according to Newsday's Marc Carig.

Though Alderson never suggested a deal is imminent, the current impasse reportedly stems from a disagreement over how, or if, Walker's contract for 2017 - he'll make $17.2 million this season after accepting New York's qualifying offer - can be restructured as part of the three-year deal, potentially freeing up cash for the Mets this summer.

Despite having his 2016 campaign cut short due to a back surgery, Walker thrived in Queens last summer, and the 31-year-old expressed his desire to stay with the Mets shortly after arriving Wednesday at his club's spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

"For me, looking at this, this is where I want to be, looking down the road, looking at what's here and the potential (of what the) next two, three, four years look like, this is an exciting place to be as a big league ballplayer," Walker recently told Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News.

Walker, whose 2017 salary trails only that of Robinson Cano among second basemen, managed a career-high 3.7 WAR last season, hitting .282/.347/.476 (122 wRC+) with 23 home runs and nine doubles in 113 games.

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