Philadelphia Phillies Could Release Taijuan Walker This Spring

After trading for Jesus Luzardo, the Philadelphia Phillies could part ways with Taijuan Walker in the spring.

Jun 21, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) looks on after allowing three runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third inning at Citizens Bank Park / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The quiet offseason for the Philadelphia Phillies ended over the course of a week.

While they didn't make the sweeping changes that were largely expected to come this winter, they did address all three areas of need by signing reliever Jordan Romano, outfield slugger Max Kepler, and most recently acquiring ace Jesus Luzardo in a trade.

Starting pitching was surprisingly something the Phillies continued to target despite already having one of the best units in Major League Baseball.

A lot of that stemmed from the lack of production they got from their fifth spot last year.

When Philadelphia handed Taijuan Walker a $72 million contract ahead of the 2023 season, he was expected to be one of the best backend starters in the MLB considering he was an All-Star in 2021 and had a sub-4.00 ERA for two years with the New York Mets.

But, his tenure has been a disaster, punctuated by the career-worst 7.10 ERA and 57 ERA+ this past campaign that saw his walk rate skyrocket and strikeout numbers plummet.

Phillies fans would have loved to just see the front office dump Walker, but with $36 million remaining over the course of the next two seasons and no clear replacement in place, that wasn't a route they were willing to take.

The Luzardo acquisition changes everything, though.

He's clearly one of the five best options Philadelphia has in place, giving them multiple choices for what to do going forward.

Ranger Suarez was reportedly someone they were shopping earlier in the offseason, and while that could begin to accelerate following this trade, the Phillies might also prefer to keep him so this rotation continues to be one of the best in baseball.

Landing Luzardo also now makes Walker expendable, something Matt Gelb of The Athletic pointed out when stating, "If it doesn't go well in the spring, the Phillies can release Walker."

The insider states Philadelphia has the veteran on a velocity training program, hoping that brings some juice back to his fastball and sinker to allow him to be more effective.

If it looks like Walker has turned the corner during Spring Training, they could try to trade him, eating some of his salary to make the deal more appealing for pitcher-needy teams before the season begins.

The Phillies could also use him out of the bullpen, although he would be an expensive reliever.

Regardless of which route they choose to take, there are now options for Philadelphia following the Luzardo move that they didn't have before.