Astros' Christian Walker nightmare is a fortunate break for Mariners

You might have read the odd comment or 20 by us about the issues the Seattle Mariners have at first base this season. This is highlighted by the position having the worst OPS on the team at .538 ahead of Friday's series opener versus the San Diego Padres.

Donovan Solano is the biggest issue at first base, but Rowdy Tellez isn't that much better, especially when you take out his production against the Toronto Blue Jays over six games. Yet whether you believe it or not, the Mariners could actually been in a worse state at the position.

We're referring to the Mariners' interest in Christian Walker in the offseason, including during the 2024 Winter Meetings. As reported at the time by Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, they apparently had conversations with the three-time Gold Glove Award winner, which ultimately came to nothing.

Mariners' inactivity has actually saved them from a major headache

Walker would subsequently agree to a three-year, $60 million deal with the Houston Astros, resulting in some critics and Mariners fans not being happy about him joining their divisional rivals. With the benefit of hindsight, though, you can make the case the M's dodged a bullet by not committing to the 34-year-old.

The reality is that Walker has not played up to expectations in Houston, with him currently projected to have his worst ever season since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, specifically at the plate. At the time of writing he has a .203 batting average, .610 OPS, 73 OPS+ and -0.3 WAR.

And it only gets worse when you delve deeper into Walker's offensive struggles. For example, he's batting .181 versus the fastball and has a pretty bad K/BB ratio with a 29.1 percent strikeout and 6.9 percent walk rate, respectively.

Would signing Christian Walker really have been that bad?

Objectively speaking, you can make the case Walker would still be a better alternative to the tandem of Solano and Tellez, but you need to also take into account the financial factor. The Astros are on the hook for $20 million per season, which we all know is the type of money the Mariners were unwilling and/or unable to splash out for just one player.

Let's also consider the knock-on effect of agreeing to a deal with the 2012 fourth-round draft pick comparable to what he signed with the Astros. If the Mariners had indeed got him on board, by extension it more than likely would have meant not re-signing Jorge Polanco and even Leody Taveras more recently.

To be clear, we fully understand Walker could and probably will improve and return to a level somewhere close to his career .784 OPS and 112 OPS+ as this season progresses. However, we still believe the Mariners saved themselves a whole lot of pain and unnecessary money by not seriously pursuing the Norristown, Pennsylvania native.

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