Taijuan Walker Has Signed With The Philadelphia Phillies
David Dombrowski certainly has opened up his checkbook during the 2022 MLB Winter Meetings. There was the massive signing of Trea Turner for upwards of $300M, and he is shelling out even more here. Ken Rosenthal reports that the Phillies and former Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker have agreed on a four-year, $72M deal.
Taijuan Walker posted a 3.49 ERA last season with the New York Mets, along with a 1.19 WHIP and 132 Ks to 45 walks over 157.1 innings. He will likely be the third starter in a strong Philadelphia Phillies rotation that features Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler. This is a high-risk, high-reward kind of signing for the Phillies. Walker has proven himself to be a quality starting pitcher, but there are major concerns with his durability. From 2018 to 2021, Walker only appeared in 26 games with a variety of injuries. This had to have been a conversation that took place, you would imagine.
It will be interesting to see just how much more the Philadelphia Phillies do this off-season. After bringing in guys like Trea Turner and Taijuan Walker, it is clear they want to get back to the World Series and will stop at nothing to hoist that trophy at the end of the year. The Phillies finished the year last year at 87-75, sneaking into the playoffs as a Wild Card team, and making a run all the way to the World Series, where they would lose in six games to the Houston Astros. With these additions and if the team continues to develop, they should be a perennial favorite in the NL East in 2023 and a betting favorite to win it all next year.
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