Few players would make more sense for the Pittsburgh Pirates than Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker.

Sports Illustrated predicted that Pittsburgh will sign the Diamondbacks’ first baseman in free agency and ranked him at No. 13 among the top 50 free agents.

“Over the past three seasons, Pete Alonso and Matt Olson are the only first basemen with more home runs than Walker’s 95,” SI writes. “A late bloomer who didn’t take on an everyday role until his age-28 season, Walker has been fairly consistent year after year, with a 120 wRC+ since 2022. Players in their mid-30s can become marginalized. in free agency, but Walker’s bat has been productive enough to earn a high ranking in this year’s class.”

Walker has been one of the more reliable power-hitting first basemen over the past three seasons. He has hit 95 home runs and 281 RBIs since 2022. Last season he hit 26 home runs, drove in 84 runs and hit .251/.335/.468.

Walker, 34, has also proven to be a more than reliable defensive first baseman. He has won three consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and led all players at his position in the National League with 13 outs above average and 39 in the last three years.

Few teams need to add more proven bats to their lineup than Pittsburgh. It ranked in the bottom 10 in almost every major category at the plate and especially struggled to get consistent production from first base.

Signing Walker wouldn’t be without concerns, as is the case with almost any free agent. He will be 34 next season, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to sign him on a possible deal longer than three years.

But given where the Pirates currently stand, they should be willing to make a risky move for a player of Walker’s caliber and give him arguably the biggest free agent contract in franchise history.

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