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The "stable" first baseman who crumbled
The fear of Pete Alonso leaving via free agency after 2025 dominated fan discussion all winter. Many fans, bracing for the worst, pointed to Christian Walker as the most logical and "safe" pivot. He was everything Alonso wasn't: a three-time Gold Glove defender with a consistent, if not spectacular, bat. After a 2024 season with Arizona where he hit 26 home runs, drove in 84, and posted a solid .803 OPS, he was the premier free-agent first baseman not named Alonso. Walker parlayed that reputation into a massive three-year, $60 million contract with the Houston Astros, leaving Mets fans to wonder what their "Plan B" would be.
The Mets can now send the Astros a thank-you card. Walker's first season in Houston was an unmitigated disaster. The 34-year-old's bat completely evaporated. He hit just .238, and his on-base percentage was a putrid .297, leading to a .717 OPS and a 99 wRC+ (literally a below-average offensive player). He still hit 27 home runs, but they were mostly solo shots that couldn't mask his anemic batting average. He finished the entire 2025 season with a bWAR of just 0.2, meaning he was a replacement-level player.
The Astros are now reportedly desperate to get out from under the remaining two years and $40 million owed to him. Walker represents the exact trap the Mets avoided: paying a premium for a one-dimensional player (1B/DH) on the wrong side of the aging curve. His defense is still elite, but he's a black hole in the lineup. While the Mets' 2025 was a failure, they can take solace in the fact that they didn't compound their problems by rostering one of the worst contracts in baseball.