Christian Walker has been a popular target in free agency thus far in the offseason, drawing interest not only from the incumbent Diamondbacks but also the Yankees, Mariners, Astros and Nationals, among other clubs. ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that interested teams have been unwilling to extend their offers beyond three years but that Walker’s camp “would love to get a fourth year.”
Widespread interest in Walker is only logical. He’s been among the most underrated players in the sport for several seasons. The 33-year-old slugger’s .251/.335/.468 slash from 2024 is a near mirror image of the broader .253/.332/.464 line he carries in nearly 3200 plate appearances dating back to 2019. At the time, it would’ve seemed utterly nonsensical to think that the Diamondbacks would be able to successfully replace perennial All-Star Paul Goldschmidt with a journeyman waiver claim, but Arizona did just that and has been rewarded handsomely.
Not only has Walker been consistently productive at the plate — 13% better than average overall, including 20% better over the past three seasons — he’s emerged as one of the game’s best defenders at his position. Walker has won three straight Gold Gloves for his work at first base. Walker’s 33 Defensive Runs Saved over the past three seasons lead all big league first baseman by a wide margin. Matt Olson is second, at 27. Statcast is even more bullish, crediting Walker with 39 Outs Above Average — nearly double that of second-ranked Carlos Santana (20). He’s made only eight errors since 2022.
Quietly excellent as Walker has been, however, a four-year deal is a lofty ask when considering his age. He’ll turn 34 in March. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, only four position players in the past decade have secured a four-year deal beginning in their age-34 season or later: Josh Donaldson (four years, $92MM with the Twins), Ben Zobrist (four years, $56MM with the Cubs), Nelson Cruz (four years, $57MM with the Mariners) and Victor Martinez (four years, $68MM with the Tigers. Donaldson’s deal, now almost five years old, is the most recent of the bunch. Of the four, only Cruz’s contract played out well.
Suffice it to say, four years would break any recent precedent for a position player of this age. Speculatively speaking, he could go the route some other veterans have in the past to secure the additional years they seek on longer-term deals: throw in (in this instance) the fourth year at a discounted rate. General expectations for Walker have been that he’ll command something in the vicinity of $20MM per year. If he were to tack on a fourth year at, say, $8-10MM, that’d get him his fourth season and also lower the luxury-tax hit for the signing club. For many of Walker’s reported suitors, that won’t be a factor, as they’re not CBT payors anyhow. For a team like the Yankees or Astros, it could prove significant.
Walker’s asking price is likely one of the reasons that the Yankees “appear increasingly likely to go with a more inexpensive option at first base,” as reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The others include the qualifying offer that’d cost them an additional two draft picks (after already punting two for Max Fried) and the plethora of options available on the free agent market (Santana, Justin Turner, Goldschmidt) and trade market (Josh Naylor, Yandy Diaz, Nathaniel Lowe).
Yeah, that’ll be a no, Christian.
This is crazy. In this day and age where .250 hitters are getting $20,000,000 a year it’s insane.
Pass.
I barely had interest in one year, let alone four!
Cashman, stand down.
I repeat: STAND DOWN!
you dont believe 34 year old players with a short track record are getting better?
Good luck. i hope the yankees don’t get crazy and desperate. Yankees should offer only 2 years. I’d be happy with Bellinger at 1B and Profar or Verdugo in LF.
I must say, I never thought I’d read the sentence ‘I’d be happy with Verdugo in LF’.
What a world.
They aren’t desperate at this point with Bellinger in the fold who can play 1b.
mlbny: Agree on not going nuts for Walker but… the hardest of passes on more Verdugo. Honestly I can’t see him getting more than a few mil on a 1 year deal. He hits like a backup middle infielder. Not a fan of Profar’s inconsistent game either. Perhaps there’s a trade for a 1st baseman in our future?
Profar had a high OBP last yea. I’m surprised he isn’t getting talked up more.
Because he’s very inconsistent year to year.
Verdugo sucks!!! Worst offensive LF in mlb! Pass!
good luck with that
Yankees will do it. They’ll add that stupid 4th year to ‘bring down the AAV’, but really just extend the contract to an insufferable length a la DJLM.
It’s destined to happen.
I’m going to say with Belli already in the fold, they don’t have to do anything of the sort. He’s the insurance policy to all these crazy asking points.
Agreed Brian. Hal loves those too long deals to lower the AAV. If we want to give too many years at least attach a buyout like the Rizzo deal.
@Brian
It’s super clear that Cash is methodically doing things in such a manner where he doesn’t “have” to do “something stupid.” As @Sal states below, Belli is a legit possibility at 1b or LF, and to a lesser extent, so is Ben Rice @ 1B. I think he’s searching for the most bang for a buck deal for a LF, 1B or RF. The deals for a lot of these guys don’t appear to be robust. They all have interested parties but none in love with the sticker price.
i want the yankees to sign turner just to see what he looks like without a beard
I figured his desire for a 4th year was the hold-up. I’m not adverse to signing him short-term, but now that they have Belli, I’d like them to play him at 1st and acquire more lefty bats in the lineup. Profar or Santander are both switch hitters who hit righties well and neither have massive k rates. One can man the LF position. I also would like to see Ben Rice have an avenue to become a starter. I think his bat and strike zone awareness are real. Belli at 1b doesn’t block him long-term. Walker on a 4 year deal absolutely does unless Stanton is injured for a prolonged time, which is always a possibility.
That is a big reach by the Walker camp, he will be 34 at the start of ST. No way as a GM I would give him a fourth year without it being a team only option with no guarantee. Walker will be lucky to get a 2 year plus a mutual option for the 3rd. Again, he will be 34 at ST. Walker needs to face it he is long in the tooth for Free Agency. He’ll get a signing bonus plus incentives to go along with the base salary. D’Backs do not give him a fourth-year guarantee, again he will be 34 at ST.
Only long term 4yr deal for first base I would consider giving a deal to Alonzo being he is young enough to rid the contract at age 33.
Only happens if someone gets crazy desperate. We all saw what happened to Jose Abreu… 34 year olds should be lucky to even get a 3 year deal tbh
he is cuban not 34, nor can you base that kind of thing on 1 player. but most of the comps ive seen ended around 34 its true! baseball ref lists guys like garret jones, nick johnson, and lucas duda….
Right on cue, Steve.
Just announced 10 minutes later that Walker is signing with the Astros.
Well, that explains why he hasn’t signed yet.
He’s *right* at the age where most players’ peak performance ends. Going brutally by stats alone, I’d give him 1 year/$15M w/ a $2.5M buyout with a few years worth of $15M options with $2.5M buyouts.
In other words, 1 year/$17.5M vs 2 years/$32.5M vs 3 years/$47.5M vs 4 years/$60M…
I don’t mind him getting paid… As long as it’s not the Tigers paying him. 33 years old, bWAR has dropped hard 2 years in a row, and he wants 4 years? Pass.
Is he a better option than Tork though? Given how things have shaken out with Tork I would say yes and he’s an upgrade right now until Liranzo or Briceno get here.
But he wants four years.
Unless he’s in the mold of Santana that fourth year could be painful like Cabrera’s last couple (which was worth it to have his prime years). But…if it’s a move that gets them more offense and a World Series win I’d take it.
You are right that it is a risk though.
Ugggh 3 years and $60 million. The Tigers should have gone for it.
I wouldn’t want them offering anything more than a one year deal.
The Astros can have him.
I wonder if they will look at grabbing someone like Santana on a one year deal. It seems like they are going to keep Tork around.
I thought he might be palatable at 3/54 or 57 for the Yankees and you probably unload him the last year or a four year 68 million that’s backloaded, but I wasn’t in love with idea and I find that I won’t be upset if they let him pass.
I want Bregman and Yandy Diaz. Yandy and Bregman would help us transition into. Low strikeout club with middle road power.
Or
Trade for tucker from the cubs lol.
But
Santana is a classic cashman/hal choice and he’ll be cooked by July. Goldschmidt as a platoon might be interesting but only at 1 year.
Turner would be fine but I can’t see him shaving.
Astros will sign him.
Walker’s camp is negotiating. This way they can settle for a 3 year with a slightly higher AAV. He will own the Crawford boxes.
He should be realistic and think about the club over himself, offer to take 4 years/$8M with $4.8M deferred without interest until 2035 and a commitment of $2M of his after tax salary to the club’s tax write off- er… charitable foundation.
He’s gonna sign with the Astros.
You don’t ask, you don’t get. (He won’t get four, though.)
You’ll take three years and like it!
Come on, Adams. Write like you’re being paid for it, which you are. “Quietly excellent as Walker has been” is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. You can’t just leave “as” out at the start of the sentence because you feel like it. It’s not optional, and neither is proper grammar.