The Orioles haven't yet engaged in any extension talks with Matt Wieters, but the catcher tells Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he would be very interested in staying in the black-and-orange for years to come.
"I've always been interested [in staying long-term in Baltimore]," Wieters said on Tuesday. "I'm a huge fan of Baltimore and what [Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette] have done. It's something to where it's a great baseball town, it's a fun place to play and it's a place where I enjoy playing."
Wieters is under team control through 2015 and is arbitration-eligible for the first time, with a shot at receiving a record salary for first-time arb-eligible catchers according to MLBTR's Matt Swartz. Before the 2012 season began, MLBTR's Mike Axisa thought a five-year, $22-$25MM extension would fit Wieters but the catcher's price tag has likely gone up following a performance that included 23 homers and a .249/.329/.435 slash line.
Connolly notes that Baltimore's location fits Wieters for family reasons, and the catcher himself has been impressed with how the O's have seen fit to lock up other building blocks like Showalter, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy in recent years.
"To have a manager like that and players like that [locked up], that definitely doesn't hurt," Wieters said.
