The price for New York Yankees free-agent target first baseman Christian Walker was never going to be cheap, but it may be coming down a bit from some of the astronomical numbers that have been thrown out there, according to one MLB Insider.
With the Seattle Mariners putting ace Luis Castillo into the trade marketplace chatter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal believes the chatter about them signing Walker is over-inflated.
“Some reports have indicated that if the Mariners move Castillo, they will make a strong push for free agent Christian Walker. The Mariners, though, would face significant competition for Walker, and might not view a first baseman who will play next season at 34 years old as the wisest investment of their money,” Rosenthal wrote.
While Walker was predicted to get a deal in the $60 million range this offseason, some reports, including this one from the New York Daily News Bill Madden, suggested that Walker was looking for the same kind of five-year, over $100-million deal that free agent Pete Alonso is looking to get.
That’s why Madden suggests the market has slowed for first baseman as the Yankees wait to see where it settles as they also talk to the Cubs about first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger.
The Yankees have always preferred Walker to Alonso because of his elite defense. That becomes more of a priority with adding a ground-ball pitcher like Max Fried in the rotation. It was also important to improve after they embarrassed themselves in the World Series with mistakes in the field.
But they were not going to give a soon-to-be 34-year-old a five-year deal in the neighborhood of $100 million. They are also not eager to give up another draft pick to sign a first baseman to a short-term deal, after giving up picks to sign Fried and giving up prospect Calen Durbin in the deal to land closer Devin Williams.
With the seemingly Mariners out of the market for Walker, that brings the competition down to mostly the Nationals, and Mets, if they cannot re-sign Alonso.
More MLB: Yankees GM confirms he’s talked to Alex Bregman’s agent
