Astros seem stuck with nightmare contract Mariners thankfully avoided

If you ever needed a reminder that “the best moves are sometimes the ones you don’t make,” look no further than Christian Walker in an Astros uniform.

Last winter, Peter Gammons casually dropped that the Seattle Mariners would “love” to acquire Walker. He checked every box we’ve seen this front office chase: right-handed power, steady glove at first, veteran track record. In another timeline, Jerry Dipoto pushes in, Walker lands in Seattle, and everyone talks themselves into three years of “professional at-bats” anchoring the lineup.

In this timeline, Houston wrote the check instead. And now they’re the ones trying to chew through the contract.

Astros’ Christian Walker headache is exactly what the Mariners avoided

Walker just finished his age-34 season worth 0.2 rWAR, the kind of year that makes a three-year, big-money deal feel a lot longer. The Astros are reportedly poking around the trade market, but the rest of the league can read a player page just fine. Between his age, salary, a six-team no-trade clause and that underwhelming 2025, multiple team sources told Chandler Rome of The Athletic that interest in Walker is “minimal” — even if he did still lead Houston with 27 home runs and rebound to a .799 OPS after the All-Star break. 

Sound familiar? It should. This has major “Jose Abreu, Part II” energy: a proud, aging slugger paid like the middle-of-the-order hitter he used to be, not the one he is now, on a roster that suddenly isn’t a juggernaut anymore.

Now spin that forward to Seattle. It's quite possible that if the Mariners had acquired Walker, the trade for Josh Naylor may have never occurred. You don’t typically sign a mid-30s first baseman and at the same time seek to add a younger first baseman looking to get into a game situation with both a place to play and a pay day of his own. Without the acquisition of Walker in that scenario, there likely will be no 2025 breakout season by Naylor wearing Navy Blue and Northwest Green, or a left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup.

Instead, you’ve got an older, slower, more right-handed lineup and a big chunk of AAV clogging the books just as extensions for your own guys start to hit. You’re trying to convince yourself that the “underlying metrics” still like Walker, all while every grounder he can’t quite reach and every slider he waves over reminds you that time is undefeated.

For the Astros, Walker is now a problem to solve. Crisis averted. Enjoy Naylor, Seattle. Let Houston sweat this one out.