The Braves have reached agreement on a one-year, $1.49MM deal with Jordan Walden to avoid arbitration, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities (via Twitter). Walden was projected to earn $1.5MM by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Walden, 26, came to the Braves in a November 2012 deal that shipped Tommy Hanson to the Angels. The right-hander had a 2.47 ERA and limited opponents to a .194 batting average in 47 appearances from April through August, but stumbled in the final months of the season. Walden's final line was a 3.45 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.
Walden is represented by Don Mitchell of Gaylord Sports Management, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.
Safe to say the Braves got the better end of that trade.
I’d give it another season. Walden’s problem his entire professional career has been his inability to throw breaking pitches for strikes. Either he fixed that in 2013 or he just had a fluky dominant stretch. Either way I’d wait til the end of next season. If I had the choice between Walden and Hansen I’d pick neither.
Regardless if he can or can’t throw a breaking ball for strikes, Braves still won that trade. That’s how bad Hanson is.
Regardless, Walden was not working out for the Angels.
Hanson was non-tendered. Having a guy on your team that is capable of pitching in high-leverage innings is far more valuable than not having a guy on your team anymore.
-C
Walden couldn’t throw his breaking pitches for strikes and was not working out for the Angels.
Well, that same slider was tied for a top-30 spot on most valuable sliders being thrown by relievers last season, so I guess he must have figured it out.
It’s almost like both teams thought, “Hey, we can fix this guy,” and one team was right and the other wasn’t. The team that fixed the guy they traded for won the deal. Hanson also cost more than double what Walden did, as far as salary is concerned, so yeah. Pretty easy to see which side won.
-C
Regardless of that Hanson was non-tendered and Walden doubled up Hanson in WAR. It was a win for the Braves
Regardless, Walden was not working out for the Angels. Its that simple.
And Hanson didn’t work out for either. Therefore the Braves won
Walden’s one of those characters that will keep getting chances because he throws hard and can put together a stretch of dominance, but I wouldn’t trust him in a critical situation farther than I could throw him.
I like walden he’s a good pitcher that just needs to be less injured
Even if Walden was just “decent’, this would be a steal. He is great as a early inning reliever. Please don’t even think about putting him in a save situation, though. He doesn’t have “the Kimbrel”