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3-year deal for Jamie Walker is very close

Link: FOX Sports

It would be a three-year deal for "at least" $10 million.

Let's examine Jamie Walker. He'll be 36 years old next July. He's been a block in the Tiger bullpen since 2002, and he's done fairly well. He's pretty tough on lefties, but he held his own against righties in 2006, though that is not the norm for his career. Career-wise, he has a 1.07 WHIP and .229 BAA against left-handed hitters, with close to a 9 K/9 rate. Against righties, 1.43 WHIP, .282 BAA and a 4.7 K/9 rate.

Jamie Walker is a solid pitcher, but he's aging more than a lot of people realize because he was old once he actually stuck anywhere. He's a journeyman that's made good the last five seasons, mostly as a lefty specialist. There's nothing wrong with that, but to expect Walker to put up another sub-3 ERA or handle righties as well as he did would probably be foolish.

I do like him, though, mostly because of this quote that followed some of the Grimsley mess of this summer:

"If they start testing for Budweiser, I'd have to quit."

Hard to dislike the guy. And he's someone I can be optimistic about without going overboard, like Ramon Hernandez. I thought that was a sensible signing, I think this would be a sensible signing. Good move, but nothing to go nuts over.

UPDATE from zknower:

The deal is done, per The Sun:

The contract will pay Walker, arguably the best left-handed reliever on the free agent market, approximately $11.5 million over three seasons. The deal will not be official until Walker, who had a 2.81 ERA in 56 games last season, takes and passes a physical.