Christian Walker is reportedly seeking a four-year deal

Christian Walker has been a popular target in free agency so far this offseason, drawing interest not only from the established Diamondbacks, but also the Yankees, Mariners, Astros and Nationals, among other clubs. This is written by ESPN’s Jeff Passan that interested teams have been reluctant to extend their offer beyond three years, but that Walker’s camp “would love to get a fourth year.”

Widespread interest in Walker is only logical. He has 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 3,200 plate appearances dating back to 2019. Back then, it would have worked completely nonsensical to believe that the Diamondbacks would be able to successfully replace the perennial All-Star Paul Goldschmidt with a journeyman exemption requirement, 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 proven to be 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 basemen by a wide margin. Matt Olson is second with 27. Statcast is even more bullish, crediting Walker with an above-average 39 outs — nearly double the second-ranked Carlos Santana (20). He has made just eight errors since 2022.

Quietly excellent as Walker has been, but a four-year deal is a tall order considering his age. He turns 34 in March. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, only four position players in the past decade have secured a four-year deal that begins in their age-34 season or later: Josh Donaldson (four years, $92MM with the Twins), Ben Zobrist (four years, $56MM with Cubs), Nelson Cruz (four years, $57MM with the Mariners) and Victor Martinez (four years, $68MM with the Tigers. Donaldson’s deal, now nearly five years old, is the latest of the bunch. Of the four, only Cruz’s contract played well.

Suffice it to say, four years would break any recent precedent for a position player at this age. Speculatively, he could go the route some other veterans have in the past to secure the extra years they seek on longer-term deals: throw in (in this case) the fourth year at a discounted price. General expectations for Walker have been that he will command something in the neighborhood of $20 million. per year. If he were to manage a fourth year of e.g. $8-10M, that would get him his fourth season and also lower the luxury tax for the signing club. For many of Walker’s reported suitors, that won’t be a factor as they aren’t CBT payers anyway. For a team like the Yankees or Astros, that could prove important.

Walker’s asking price is likely one of the reasons the Yankees “seem more and more inclined to go with a cheaper option at first base.” as reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The others include the qualifying offer that would cost them two more draft picks (after already tipping two for Max Fried) and the plethora of options available on the free agent market (Santana, Justin TurnerGoldschmidt) and the trade market (Josh Naylor, Yandy Diaz, Nathaniel Lowe).