Walker is coming off his third consecutive Gold Glove
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Veteran first baseman Christian Walker has agreed to terms with the Houston Astros on a free-agent contract, Jim Bowden of CBS Sports HQ reported Friday. It’s a three-year deal worth $60 million, per USA Today.
An interesting consideration in this deal is that it seems to leave recently-acquired Isaac Paredes at third base for Houston. The domino effect there means it’s likely that free agent Alex Bregman won’t be coming back and the reported deal for Nolan Arenado — who used his no-trade clause to veto the deal — is very likely dead. Walker will play first with Paredes at third.
Walker, a 33-year-old right-handed hitter, is coming off a strong walk-year performance with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 130 games for the D-backs, Walker slashed .251/.335/.468 (121 OPS+) with 26 home runs and 26 doubles. He also claimed the National League Gold Glove at first base for the third straight year.
Earlier in the offseason, CBS Sports ranked Walker as the No. 18 available free agent in the current class. Here’s part of our write-up:
Over the past five offseasons, there’s been exactly one righty-hitting first baseman who signed a contract longer than two years: José Abreu with the Houston Astros. The less written about how that deal aged the better. Pete Alonso should make it two this offseason; can Walker get the count to three? We’re skeptical, though it’s not an indictment of his talent. Walker is coming off a tremendous three-year run during which he displayed both on-base and slugging capabilities. It’s also not to belittle his story — remember, this is someone who was claimed off waivers three times in a single month in 2017. Our pessimism stems from Walker’s encroaching 34th birthday. Teams haven’t shown an inclination to commit to right-right first basemen with regularity. We have no reason to believe Walker will be an exception.
Over the last three seasons, Walker has put up an OPS+ of 123 while averaging 34 home runs per 162 games played. For his career, he has an OPS+ of 114 and a WAR of 15.1 across parts of 10 MLB seasons.
It remains to be seen how the Astros’ roster will look heading into the year, but right now, the top four in the lineup will both be formidable and have a new look. It could go something like:
1. Jose Altuve, 2B
2. Isaac Paredes, 3B
3. Yordan Alvarez, DH
4. Christian Walker, 1B
Part of the fallout on this signing also involves the 2023 NL champion Diamondbacks. Walker has held down first for them on a nearly full-time basis since 2019. They currently have an opening at first, though they could elect to play Pavin Smith there without needing to go outside the organization.
Teams other than the D-backs possibly still looking for first base help after Walker signs with the Astros could be the Yankees, Mets and Mariners. We had previously mentioned the Cubs, but they’ve since declared confidence in Michael Busch holding onto that job.
With Walker off the board, Pete Alonso remains the top free-agent first baseman and his market should, in theory, come a bit more into focus. Below Alonso and Walker, the best remaining first basemen in free agency are Paul Goldschmidt, Carlos Santana and Justin Turner. Sure enough, there’s already a report connecting the Yankees to Goldschmidt and Santana.
As to the fit with Walker and the Astros, they were among the worst teams in baseball in terms of production from first base last season, making this a big plus.
Whenever the Astros acquire a right-handed power hitter, the penchant is to believe his power numbers will skyrocket thanks to the Crawford Boxes in left field. Walker isn’t, however, an extreme pull hitter — 52% of his batted balls went to center field last season, for example — though, and Statcast shows Minute Maid Park the last three years wouldn’t have done much to his home run production (if he played all 162 in Houston, he would’ve had 86 home runs and in reality he hit, yep, 86).
Still, this isn’t a home that will hurt Walker at all and the Astros get a good upgrade at first.
