Taijuan Walker

The Phillies and right-hander Taijuan Walker have agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract, a source told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

He went 7-3 with a 2.66 ERA in 16 first-half starts in 2021, but went 0-8 with a 7.13 ERA after the All-Star break. He went 7-2 with 2.55 ERA in his 16 first-half starts this year, but posted a 4.80 ERA in 13 starts the rest of the way. Walker went 12-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 29 starts last season with the Mets. The average velocity on his four-seam fastball jumped from 93.1 mph in 2021 to 94.2 mph last season. Walker just seemed to fit for the Phillies, who were always shopping in that tier of pitchers below Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodón. Walker made only three starts in 2018 because of a right elbow injury, which ultimately required Tommy John surgery. “You want to have someone that can throw quite a few innings for you, because we’ve got the Big Three.” He could be introduced Thursday at a press conference at Citizens Bank Park. [Taijuan Walker](https://www.mlb.com/player/592836) agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract, pending a physical. Walker, 30, will slot behind Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez in Philadelphia's rotation, while a combination of left-handers Bailey Falter and Cristopher Sánchez and top pitching prospects like righty Andrew Painter will vie for the No. Turner is scheduled to take his physical Wednesday in Philadelphia. Strahm went 4-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 50 appearances last season with the Red Sox.

The Phillies have agreed to a surprisingly large four-year, $72MM contract with former Mets righty Taijuan Walker. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.

That seems to matter little to owner John Middleton, who just saw his Phillies fall to the World Series champion Astros in a competitive six-game affair. Gibson, who turned 35 in October and yielded a 5.05 ERA in 31 starts for the Phillies, still secured a $10MM guarantee on a one-year deal in Baltimore. As a second-time offender, the Phils will pay a 30% overage on the first $20MM by which they exceed that $233MM line, and they’ll be on the hook for a 42.5% penalty for any overages between $20-40MM. And, if Walker can continue to pitch at a pace commensurate with his 2022 output in particular, he’ll end up justifying the deal. He’s only averaged a bit more than 5 1/3 innings per start in recent years, but some of that could well be a function of the Mets preferring to keep him healthy. Since 2020, when facing an opponent for the third time in a game, Walker has yielded only a .232/.303/.391 batting line. Moreover, while we’ve seen starters of this ilk land guarantees in this range in the past — the Royals signed [Zack Wheeler](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wheelza01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=&utm_medium=referral) and [Aaron Nola](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nolaaa01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=&utm_medium=referral). Along the way, Walker has pitched to a 3.80 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate, a 7.8% walk rate and 43.4% ground-ball rate in a total of 369 2/3 innings. [mid-rotation arm and to add a back-end reliever](https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/phillies-to-focus-on-mid-rotation-starters-back-end-relievers.html) — ideally without signing a free agent who’d turned down a qualifying offer. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo [adds](https://twitter.com/AnthonyDiComo/status/1600311714754441217) that Walker, a client of the Boras Corporation, will be guaranteed $72MM on the deal. The Phils could yet add some further depth, but based on Dombrowski’s earlier comments and the fact that they’ve committed a combined $372MM to Turner and Walker in the past day, it seems unlikely that another high-profile addition is in store.

The Mets saw another one of their starting pitchers that opted out of their contract this offseason sign elsewhere.

He also proved to be a far more consistent pitcher compared to 2021 when he posted a 7.13 ERA over his final 13 starts of the season. Joey Lucchesi and Tylor Megill are also options secure for 2023. Verlander, Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, and David Peterson are under contract for next season.