The 1946 Philadelphia Athletics season began with Christopher the subject of a possible trade. The Athletics tried to obtain Johnny Lindell from the Yankees, but they wanted Christopher in return. Mack refused to give him up, and as a result the trade never materialized. He began the season in the starting rotation, and was the opening day starting pitcher in a 5–0 loss against the Yankees. Over the first part of the season, Christopher again split time between the rotation and the bullpen. In a 7–3 loss to the Indians on July 18, Christopher could not get out of the second inning, allowing five earned runs. After this, he did not pitch for a month, and spent the rest of the season as an occasional reliever. He finished the season with five wins, seven losses and a 4.30 ERA. After the season ended, Christopher began contemplating retirement from baseball. He had lost 10 pounds in the final months of the season and was light to begin with, and decided that he would retire if he could not gain the weight back over the winter.