Washington Nationals Best Served Signing First Baseman Christian Walker
The Washington Nationals need a veteran to help lead their young offensive core. They could also use an upgrade at first base after getting a combined .686 OPS from the position in 2024, ranking 22nd in MLB. Enter Christian Walker.
Walker has seen an uptick in his offensive production over the last three years with the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team he has been with since 2017. Last season was the veteran's 10th Major League season, and he carries a career .250/.330/.463 line across 3,270 plate appearances in 832 games with 147 home runs, 443 RBI, and a 114 OPS+.
Over the last three years, the first baseman has batted .250/.332/.481 across 1,880 plate appearances in 447 games with 95 home runs, 281 RBI, and a 123 OPS+. He has been the full-time starter at the position for the Diamondbacks in that time, and the consistent playing time has been beneficial to his production.
In that same span, the best production that the Nationals have received from their first basemen came in 2022 from Josh Bell. Bell produced a .301/.384/.493 line across 437 plate appearances in 103 games with 14 home runs, 57 RBI, and a 152 OPS+ before being traded to the San Diego Padres with little-known outfielder Juan Soto.
The position has mostly been a black hole for production ever since, but signing Walker in free agency could alleviate that issue.
The veteran will be 34 in 2025, but he has shown no signs of slowing down at the plate, and he perennially contends for the Gold Glove Award at the position, winning it three times in as many years. Adding Walker would be beneficial on multiple fronts.
Washington has had an issue defensively with shortstop CJ Abrams, who ranked as the worst at the position in 2024 in Outs Above Average with -17. He committed 17 errors, with eight of them coming on throws. With Walker at first, a much better fielder than Joey Gallo or Juan Yepez, it is likely that the number of errors would decrease immensely.
Abrams is but one of the many young players that fill the Nationals roster. With 10 years of Major League experience, Walker would be a good leader in the clubhouse, potentially keeping the youngsters from making mistakes.
Christian Walker makes perfect sense as the upgrade at first base for Washington. Spotrac has Walker projected to land a three-year, $66.1 million deal, easily something that the team could swing.
With their young core, and the hypothetical addition of Walker, the Nationals' rebuild would be all but over and their window for contention could be open as soon as 2025.
