The Diamondbacks and first baseman Christian Walker have agreed to a deal to avoid arbitration, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The CAA Sports client will make a salary of $10.9MM in 2024. Right-hander Paul Sewald, a client of ISE Baseball, has also settled and will make $7.35MM this year.
Walker, 33 in March, has settled in nicely as an above-average first baseman for the Snakes. He hit 33 home runs last year and had solid walk and strikeout rates of 9.4% and 19.2%, respectively. His .258/.333/.497 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 120, indicating he was 20% above league average. His defense was also highly regarded, leading to 12 Outs Above Average, nine Defensive Runs Saved and a grade of 3.5 from Ultimate Zone Rating.
All of those numbers were quite close to his 2022 season, when he hit 36 homers, walked at a 10.3% clip and struck out in 19.6% of his plate appearances. He had a batting line of .242/.327/.477, 123 wRC+, 14 OAA, 17 DRS and 5.4 UZR.
This is his third trip through arbitration, as he made $2.6MM in 2022 and $6.5MM last year. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a raise to $12.7MM in 2024, but he’ll come in almost $2MM below that. It’s his final season of club control before he’s slated for free agency.
Sewald, 34 in May, is also in his final season before hitting the open market. A late bloomer, he established himself as an excellent reliever in a breakout season with the Mariners in 2021, posting a 3.06 earned run average. He carried that over into 2022 and lowered his ERA to 2.67, racking up 20 saves in the process.
He continued to serve as Seattle’s closer until a deadline trade that sent Josh Rojas, Dominic Canzone and Ryan Bliss to the Mariners. Sewald continued to pitch well and stabilized the bullpen in the desert, helping the club push all the way to the World Series. He finished the year with a 3.12 ERA and 34 saves, plus six more saves in the playoffs. He made $1.735MM in 2022, his first arbitration season, then $4.1MM last year. He was projected for a raise to $7.3MM this year but will barely edge past that.
Walker is one of the most underrated players in the league IMO. I’m not saying he’s necessarily an elite talent, but he’s been a very good and consistent hitter the last two years (and really only has one down year where he played substantial time). Plus, with CC on the bases ahead of him a lot of the time, he was able to get a bunch of double steals off. 11 for a 1B is certainly not a bad thing at all.
And as they note above, he’s been one of the best defenders in the league the last two years as well. If he does the same thing this year he’s going to be in line for a really good pay day next offseason.
He did get MVP votes last year, hard to call him the most underrated in MLB.
I’m not sure if a solitary 10th place vote necessarily changes my view that he’s underrated (and who knows, maybe I was that sole voter, ha).
Most of Walker’s stolen bases were not a result of a double steal, most of those attempts came at the final two months of the season. It was very often the case where the pitcher ignored him and he took off. Most of them the catcher didn’t bother throwing.
freeland
True, but…the fact that the catcher didn’t throw down to second base was NOT because of defensive indifference, but rather because Walker caught the opposing team so off-guard that the catcher had zero chance to throw Walker out! Even after Walker had stolen enough times he should have been on the scouting report, Walker still had enough speed and smarts to pick his spots and steal at a high percentage of attempts.
Walker is definitely one of the Top 3 1b in MLB, yet is seldom mentioned, so I agree he is grossly underrated!
In 2023, Walker ranked 3rd in HR, RBI, OPS, SB, etc. among all 1b. He ranks high in virtually every offensive category and has won the Gold Glove award the last 2 years in a row. To me, the elite defense sets him apart from and above other 1b who have excellent offensive numbers. So as a Top 3 1b with elite offensive and defensive chops, I consider him elite overall in MLB, not just at 1b.
Dbacks fans used to say that Walker almost produced as good numbers as Goldschmidt after Goldy was traded away! Now we say we would rather have Walker’s production rather than the fading Goldschmidt’s numbers. We still love Goldy, but are thrilled to have Walker now.
What a kick in the teeth. A productive farm hand for Baltimore last decade but got sidetracked with all that Chris Davis buzz. And I believe my Os just cut him loose. IE couldn’t find a trade partner. Fast Forward to today. Davis is out of the game and getting paid handsomely while Christian thumps away for only pennies on the Chris Davis dollar. And, plays in a World Series which Davis never came close to accomplishing. Ugh.
Sewald was the unsung hero of the Dback’s 2nd half surge and drive to the WS.
Before his acquisition, the Dback’s bullpen was in total disarray, shattered by poor performance, failed prospect debuts, and pitchers forced into uncomfortable roles. But once Sewald was acquired every bullpen arm was backed down one peg from their high leverage role and they collectively caught their stride.
He’s not the perfect closer, but he certainly made everyone else in the bullpen better after he was acquired. He even blew his first save opportunity, but came back the very next time to right the ship.