Arizona Diamondbacks 10 Highest Paid Players in 2018

By Josh Burke

Feb 19, 2018

PHOENIX, AZ - DECEMBER 11: Free agent aquisition Zack Greinke of the Arizona Diamondbacks (C) laughs with Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa (R) and General Manager Dave Stewart during a press conference at Chase Field on December 11, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) /

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PHOENIX, AZ – AUGUST 26: Taijuan Walker /

#7 Taijuan Walker – $4.825 Million in 2018 ($4,825,000 Million AAV)

Taijuan Walker is not the can’t-miss prospect he once was. Walker was pretty much a consensus top-10 prospect among major baseball publications as recently as four years ago.

He’s still just 25 years old. Listed at 6’4″ 235lbs, Walker has a power pitcher’s build and the 94mph fastball velocity you would expect to go with it.

Walker could still blossom into a formidable top-of-the-rotation stud, as was prophesied, or he could just plateau as a middle- to bottom-of-the-rotation stud, like he already is. Either option is great because, with Walker being arbitration eligible for two more seasons after this one, he will get paid on performance, not projections.

Avoiding arbitration with Arizona this year, Walker inked a deal just shy of $5 million, setting him up to reach free agency before the 2021 season.