The Philadelphia Phillies have lost eight straight games. In the wake of their now MLB’s longest losing streak, the Phillies announce that they have released right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker.
Across Walker’s four-year contract with the Phillies he appeared in 89 games (71 starts), only had 17 quality starts, accumulated a 5.12 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, .270 average against, .813 OPS against, and gave up 84 earned runs.
His time with the Phillies is nothing but disappointing.
Phillies’ president of baseball operations Dave Dombroski has now released eight free agents since becoming president in December 2020. One of the more notable players being, current San Diego Padre, Nick Castellanos.
In the February prior to the 2026 MLB season, the Phillies released Castellanos who signed a five-year contract in 2022 for $100 million. The Padres quickly picked up Castellanos and signed him to a league minimum deal of $780,000.
After sending Walker and Castellanos to the streets, it only makes fans wonder how much money are the Phillies throwing away? And all for what?
While Walker was a recent release, and rightfully so, Dombroski has proved to be one of the worst president of baseball operations in regards to free agency signing.
The Philadelphia Phillies Owe Taijuan Walker And Nick Castellanos $30 Million
In 2023, Taijuan Walker signed a four-year $72 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. With one year left on his contract, the Phillies will now owe him around $15.3 million, minus a prorated portion of the league minimum if another team picks him up.
While Walker’s turbulent stint with the Phillies does warrant this kind of treatment, it really makes you question the Phillies management.
The releasing of Nick Castellanos seemed to have come out of left field, until the outfielder revealed that he was benched last season after brining beer to the dugout. The Phillies attempted a trade for Castellanos, but were unable to make any arrangements, leading to his release and the $20 million payout of his contract.
Philadelphia Phillies beat writer, Jeff Kerr, explains that paying a combined $34.2 million to Castellanos and Walker, “Makes it difficult to add pieces to a roster in free agency when you’re paying players not to be here. Add in being $70.4 million over the luxury tax threshold with the massive surcharge.”
Aside from Walker, Castellanos has struggled with the Padres this season, making his release seem very reasonable. Castellanos’ splits are .146/.196/.208 through 16 games and 48 at-bats.
More Phillies on Heavy: Phillies’ 8th Straight Loss Leaves Them With MLB’s Longest Losing Streak After Mets Win
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Rob Thomson Comments On Taijuan Walker’s Release
On paper, the decision to release Taijuan Walker may have been an easy one, but off the field Walker has constantly been credited as a great teammate.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson, spoke about the releasing of Walker, claiming that he will miss having him around.
“One of the best teammates and best people I’ve ever been around,” Thomson said. ”I hope people understand that. This guy always took the ball, never refused it. Always answered the questions after the game. I’m gonna miss him, to tell you the truth.”
Thomson specifically said that his release was all performance-based, making it more of a difficult decision to let someone like Walker go.
The Phillies look to snap their eight game losing streak against the Chicago Cubs at 2:20 P.M. EST at Wrigley Field.
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