What do the Phillies do with Taijuan Walker? Here are the three likeliest outcomes.

Owed $36 million over the next two seasons, Walker is coming off a historically bad season and doesn’t have a spot in the rotation.

Taijuan Walker doesn't have an obvious spot on the Phillies' pitching staff despite being owed $36 million over the next two years.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published Feb. 25, 2025, 4:02 p.m. ET

It’s not going to happen, but well, let’s pretend.

Because the Phillies were light on righty-hitting outfielders even before Johan Rojas tweaked his right shoulder in winter ball last month and Weston Wilson strained a muscle near his rib cage last week. And the Mets’ six-man rotation is down to four with Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea bound for the opening-day injured list.

So, let’s make a trade: Taijuan Walker for Starling Marte.

Who says no?

Back here in reality, probably both teams. The Phillies and Mets don’t usually try to help one another, especially when they’re both in go-for-it mode in the NL East. They haven’t come together on a trade since 2019 and haven’t swapped major leaguers since 2001. It’s been a long time since Turk Wendell/Dennis Cook-for-Bruce Chen, even longer since Lenny Dykstra/Roger McDowell-for-Juan Samuel.

Never mind, then, that Walker doesn’t have a spot in the Phillies’ stacked rotation but could eat innings in Flushing, where he posted a 3.98 ERA in 58 starts in 2021-22. Or that Marte is a fourth outfielder for the Juan Soto Mets but could platoon with Brandon Marsh or Max Kepler in South Philly after batting .310 with an .884 OPS against lefties last season.

Even the money is nearly a wash — well, for 2025. Walker is making $18 million; Marte $19.5 million in his walk year. If the Phillies agreed to pay the $18 million that Walker is owed in 2026, or included a midlevel prospect or two, there might be a path to a deal … if not for that pesky division-rivalry thing.

You get the idea, though. And maybe there’s another sensible trade for the Phillies to move Walker to a rotation-needy team in exchange for outfield depth. It’s difficult not to notice the tire-pumping whenever they have talked publicly about the 32-year-old righty so far this spring.

Exhibit A: After watching Walker’s bullpen session on the first official day of camp, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski observed that he “commanded his pitches on both sides of the plate away from a right-handed hitter, which was not an easy thing for him to do last year.”

Then, after Walker struck out five hitters in a row in live batting practice last week, manager Rob Thomson noted that his fastball topped 92 mph. Walker’s average velocity has decreased in each of the last four seasons, bottoming out at 91.5 mph last year, according to Statcast.

“I’m so proud of him,” Thomson said. “The work that he’s put in, he looks better than he did [in 2022] when he won 15 games, at this point in time. I’m really pleased with him.”

Check back when Walker gets into a Grapefruit League game. Opposing scouts surely will, with radar guns aimed squarely at home plate. If he doesn’t open eyes in a competitive setting this spring, even the concept of a trade will be moot, regardless of how much of his salary the Phillies are willing to swallow.

Walker was untradable this winter following a season that was historically bad. That isn’t hyperbole. He posted a 7.10 ERA, the highest mark in 94 years by a Phillies pitcher who worked at least 80 innings in a season. Opponents batted .317 and slugged .589 against him in 19 games, including 15 starts. He gave up 24 homers in 83⅔ innings.

Rather than releasing Walker, in which case they still would’ve been on the hook for the remainder of his contract, the Phillies sent him home to Arizona with a multiphased offseason program designed to improve his athleticism and regain some of the diminished velocity.

But they also traded for Jesús Luzardo to round out the rotation behind Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez, and Ranger Suárez. Top prospect Andrew Painter is penciled in to make his major-league debut by the summer. Joe Ross, slated to start Wednesday against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, was signed as a multi-inning reliever/swingman.

Squint and you’ll still have a hard time seeing a spot for Walker, who has made all of eight relief appearances in 12 major-league seasons.

To his credit, Walker didn’t get to spring training and insist on starting, à la Yankees righty Marcus Stroman, his friend and former teammate with the Mets. Instead, he said he’s committed to proving he can still be an effective major-league pitcher.

“Honestly, I’m really just focused on doing what I can do,” Walker said. “I’m not looking at [possibly pitching for another team] at all. Just really focused on my pitching, my command and stuff, and whatever happens, happens.”

The three likeliest outcomes, barring an injury: a) Walker pitches poorly in spring training and gets released in a manner similar to when the Diamondbacks released Madison Bumgarner in 2023 with $34 million left on his contract; b) He pitches competently and gets traded, with the Phillies almost certainly paying most of the money; c) He makes the opening-day roster as a long man in the bullpen.

The first two options could be risky. It’s never a great idea to trade pitching depth. And if the Phillies take on the financial responsibility, it might make the most sense to keep Walker around.

But it’s also difficult to imagine that the Phillies wouldn’t have addressed the outfield differently or signed more than one reliever (Jordan Romano) this winter if they didn’t have an $18 million annual salary tied up in a No. 7 starter.

If Walker shows that he has something left, maybe they can still find a creative way to rectify other needs.