The Arizona Diamondbacks narrowly missed the postseason this year after winning the National League pennant in 2023. Now, they have some questions to answer heading into the 2025 season.
Three-time Gold Glove first baseman Christian Walker is a free agent and there are no guarantees he will return next season. Thus, Arizona may have some work to do in free agency in terms of looking for a first baseman.
Will Leitch of MLB.com predicts that Walker will ultimately leave Arizona and sign a deal with the New York Yankees.
“We’ll say the Yanks go with Walker, who is underappreciated and might not cost as much as [Pete] Alonso. It might be the more prudent pick, as emotionally satisfying as it might be to take Alonso away from the Mets,” Leitch wrote.
Walker slashed .251/.335/.468 with 26 home runs, 84 RBI and an .803 OPS in 2024 with Arizona. Losing him would certainly hurt as they try to piece together another contending roster in 2025.
This would of course leave Arizona in need of a new first baseman. If they lose Walker, they could go with his predecessor, Paul Goldschmidt, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with the team before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.
But Walker’s bat and glove are valuable and that won’t be easy to replace if he ultimately departs for the Yankees, who need a big bat or two after losing Juan Soto to the New York Mets.
It will be interesting to see how the D-Backs approach the rest of the offseason with the Winter Meetings having already concluded.
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