Christian Walker of the Diamondbacks was headed for a sizable offseason payday.
Christian Walker, a first baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks, entered his “walk” year with no plans to leave the team that gave him his first legitimate opportunity to sign a free agent contract in 2025.
Walker stated, “Right now, the focus is winning the World Series with this group of guys,” as the Diamondbacks started their 2023 National League pennant defense.
“This is, of course, my team. These guys are mine. I have a great experience here and am well-versed in the D-Backs. Having said that, all I can do is concentrate on winning games at the moment and giving my teammates my best effort.
Christian Walker, a first baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks, entered his “walk” year with no plans to leave the team that gave him his first legitimate opportunity to sign a free agent contract in 2025.
Walker stated, “Right now, the focus is winning the World Series with this group of guys,” as the Diamondbacks started their 2023 National League pennant defense.
“This is, of course, my team. These guys are mine. I have a great experience here and am well-versed in the D-Backs. Having said that, all I can do is concentrate on winning games at the moment and giving my teammates my best effort.
“What transpires over the next few months occurs.”
Walker should expect a sizable pay increase regardless of the outcome; estimates of $20 million annually are based on market history and his camp has not set any expectations.
For a player who was blocked by Chris Davis and Joey Votto in his early career but accepted hard work and emerged as the best in his class in Arizona, it could be deemed a just reward, regardless of the cost.
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According to Torey Lovullo, manager of the Diamondbacks, “He stands for everything we believe in.” Every day, there is a passion for learning. He has concern for both his coaches and his teammates. He is concerned with all things moral.
After a player accumulates six years of major league service time—which Walker will do this season—the economics of the major league game drastically shift in favor of the player. In his case, it is particularly true.
Walker has developed into one of the best two-way first basemen in the major leagues thanks to his career trajectory. He is a power hitting Gold Glover who plays for a team that made an unexpected run to the 2023 World Series.
In order to avoid paying Goldschmidt’s upcoming free agency and acquire future pieces in Luke Weaver and Carson Kelly, the Diamondbacks traded Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals, opening first base and giving Walker his first real opportunity of the season. Walker is the only one left.
Walker is on track to at least equal his breakthrough 2022 and 2023 seasons, when he had 69 home runs and 197 RBIs while winning two Gold Gloves. Walker turned 33 on opening day and celebrated with a two-run double.
With four home runs and eight RBIs in his last five games, he has 16 home runs and 49 RBIs this season. Once more, his OPS is comparable to that of Goldschmidt and Pete Alonso of the New York Mets.
Once Alonso hits 86 home runs and accumulates 249 RBIs in 2022–2023—and he continues to shoot high—he will be the most sought-after first baseman available. The New York Post reported that he declined a seven-year, $158 million contract offer, and USA Today stated that he is looking for a multi-year deal worth up to $200 million.
Walker may be the most sought-after applicant for that job at this point. After the parties avoided arbitration last winter, he is playing this season for $10.9 million, a sum that is significantly less than his performance level and the highest paid at his position.
Even though Walker started the 2022 season three years younger than Goldschmidt, his numbers since then have been comparable.
Walker has two Gold Gloves already and is expected to win another. He also has 85 home runs, 246 RBIs, a.486 slugging percentage, and an.817 OPS. According to baseball-reference.com and FanGraphs, he led the National League’s first basemen in defensive runs saved through the second week of the current season.
In the previous two plus seasons, Goldschmidt, who will be 37 next season, has 68 home runs, 222 RBIs, a.480 slugging percentage, and an.847 OPS. With 35 home runs and the final Gold Glove of his four Gold Gloves, he was the 2022 National League MVP.
Before the 2020 season, José Abreu’s three-year, $50 million contract extension with the Chicago White Sox may also be a pertinent comparison. At 33, he performed that year.
Since before his 36-year-old season, Abreu’s second free-agent contract did not age as well. In the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract he signed with Houston prior to 2023, he was released last week.
Of course, the Diamondbacks are still in action. They might provide a protracted extension, even though there hasn’t been any public opposition. This season, the team’s payroll is a franchise record $171 million, but there are ways to cut during the offseason.
Walker will undoubtedly receive a qualifying offer from them, which is a formality that would tie him to the team through the 2025 campaign while maintaining their
The qualifying offer, which is typically increased annually, was $20.325 million in the previous season.It is based on the average of the top 150 major league salaries as determined at the conclusion of the season. None of the six players who received qualifying offers last winter were persuaded to forgo the multi-year allure of free agency, even with the possibility of a one-year bump.
Walker appears to be in line for a 100% pay raise in 2025, free agency or not.
“No matter what happens in arbitration, free agency, or anything else like that, I prepare every year to be the absolute best version of myself,” Walker stated.
Last season’s qualifying offer was $20.325 million; this amount is typically increased annually and is based on the average of the top 150 major league salaries as determined at the conclusion of the season. That one-year bump in salary did not deter any of the six players who were given qualifying offers to forego the multi-year allure of free agency, though.
Whether he is a free agent or not, Walker should receive a 100% pay raise in 2025.
Regardless of what occurs in arbitration, free agency, or any other situation of that nature, Walker stated, “Every year I prepare to be the absolute best version of myself.”
“The arbitration situation is similar in a sense that to you are getting paid on what you’ve done. You are earning the next year very much. There can be a lot of pressure and weird dynamics with it. But I feel like if I show up every day and be my best for my teammates, they everything else will settle as it does.”
