Toledo's team, under financial pressure at season's end, worked to relieve themselves of their expensive contracts. Not yet fully recovered from a rib injury sustained in July, Walker was released by the Blue Stockings on September 22, 1884. During the offseason, Walker took a position as a mail clerk, but returned to baseball in 1885, playing in the Western League for 18 games. For the second half of 1885, he joined the baseball club in Waterbury for 10 games. When the season ended, Walker reunited with Weldy in Cleveland to assume the proprietorship of the LeGrande House, an opera theater and hotel. According to Zang, Walker could afford the business venture after commanding a $2,000 contract as a major leaguer. Though he could no longer negotiate such a salary, his skills were still highly attractive to teams: Walker returned to Waterbury in 1886 when the team joined the more competitive Eastern League.