Taijuan Walker (SP, SEA) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Keeper Leagues and Deep Leagues

ANALYSIS: Taijuan Walker is the fifth-ranked prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com. That alone should be enough to stash him in deep leagues and keeper leagues. He is a big, dominant righty with an overpowering, high-90s fastball and a nasty, low-90s cutter. He desperately needs to develop a capable changeup in order to keep hitters guessing, but he is definitely on the right track. Walker finally seems to be healthy, and although he was sent down upon his removal from the DL, he could find his way back up within a few weeks. In 2013, Walker put up a stellar 2.93 ERA with 160 K in 141.1 IP, but also allowed 57 BB. His overall command needs to improve, but that is not uncommon for a former position player. The soon-to-be 22-year-old strikeout machine is very much on the right track. Even if he gets the call soon, owners might want to keep him on the bench for a few starts to gauge how ready and healthy he is. Regardless, Walker is not a guy you want another owner to snatch up, especially in a keeper league. It's all but certain that he will be a frontline major league starter, it's just a question of when he will get to that point.