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JuniorEditor
Beltran historically plays best during a contract year, and at his age, he’s running out of those. The Yanks and Red Sox would be foolish to go after Beltran . Might as well get Napoli on a short term deal, and at least he can use the glove as well.
padam
Unless he signs a 1 year deal.
redsox for_life
One year at 16m is ok for Beltran!! Plus he will help the players like Moncada
JS11
No way EE is brings the consistency Boston needs to replace Ortiz
JS11
EE is the only one
redsox for_life
Too much years and $$$
stryk3istrukuout
I agree. I feel like he will perform closer to his 2014 & 2015 numbers. I’m thinking 16/65-ish. I can’t see him being abysmal, but I don’t think he’s worth the 18 million or so I’m assuming will be invested in him. l don’t know if Napoli’s the guy either. Justin Turner wouldn’t be a bad guy to have. Great defense and a good bat, and that solves the concerns at third base. Who knows, maybe Sandoval comes out of the shadows and performs better as a full time DH.
DanMizer
Justin Turner has only had a good year and a half of solid baseball. And his .339 obp and .493 slugging percentage as a 3b isn’t eye popping. Beltran on a 1 year contract is a no brainer compared to a Turner who will most likely demand 5 years. Plus the sox don’t need the likes of Turner taking up a 25 man spot for the next 4-5 years. They have young exciting talent coming up in the infield and with the help of a 1-2 year vet or a player who can platoon they’ll be fine.
Darth Paul
Not to be that guy, but I think you meant to say ‘if the Astros are comfortable deploying Gattis more sparingly…’
Tiger_diesel92
Typo after ” if the Yankees deploy gattis ” don’t you mean astros because he’s on them.
crazy Jawa
I can see the Os offering Wieters 1 year 8 mil. Or 2 years for 15. A take it or leave it deal. But with the Chris Davis deal, they might offer 80 million for 6 years, with most of the money spread out over 30 years.
goabes22
If price goes to high on Beltran I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Yankees swing a trade for Jay bruce
Yankees2425
I dont believe he gets more than 2/$30mil
Yankees2425
Yanks would have plenty to afford him.
slider32
No way on Bruce, he has a negative WAR in both projected offense and defense.
ammiel
I think the Yankees have their eyes on a bigger fish than Bruce/Beltran, namely Cespedes!
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
This framing nonsense, when did this become so stylish?
Also, I can’t see the Nationals signing Wieters unless they do it for spite.
Although, I could see the Braves signing Wieters, I really could and surprising everybody.
However, I hope the Orioles sign him. I would miss him.
PS Hope he recovers quickly from his little mishap.
braves2
Don’t see the Braves signing weiters. For one the Boras/money mentioned above and two they have 3 catchers now.
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
Okay, I see that now Gosewisch, Flowers, Recker.
The Braves don’t need a 4th.
The Nats might resign Ramos and I hope so, because then Wieters can come back home.
vacommish
Gosewisch was a no risk signing and for organizational depth – like Recker. I see the Braves taking a run at buying low on Norris from the Padres, who have C depth and the Braves on speed dial.
davidcoonce74
Framing is a measurable skill. Easily measured now, actually.
Jeff Todd
What’s funny is that framing was a thing that old school, scouting types believed in — a soft art that couldn’t be quantified. Then, analytics showed it had real value. Now, there are seemingly some anti-analytics sorts who dispute it.
Regardless of one’s perspective, I don’t see how it can be rejected. Some catchers are better than others at getting umps to call strikes on borderline pitches. Strikes tend to lead to outs which tend to keep runs off the board. You can debate just how important it is, but there’s way to much reason behind the concept to dismiss it out of hand.
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
No you are right, I see it during games, the slight of hand, but I never thought about quantifying it. I know Matt is a capable catcher and if he is motivated to do so can be a good framer. I guess Russell and Showalter don’t emphasize it as much as other teams.. I know Orioles announcers are always talking about which Umpires are pitcher friendly and those who are not, They open every game talking about.
Never any discussion about framing.
lonechicken
Wouldn’t framing be a much more correctable/teachable skill than say, hitting home runs?
Jeff Todd
I think it is, yeah. But some have mastered it more than others, and like anything else it’s a combination of reflexes, good teaching/teachability, and repetition.
jd396
I feel the same thing happened with defense.
Tooman
Framing became stylish the minute that coaches/catchers realized that MLB umps were being duped by it and that their decisions were influencing ball games.
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
What needs to be done is a consistent strike zone needs to be achieved.
notagain27
There is no doubt there is a art to framing pitches but, Weiters is 6’4″ and presents a different viewpoint to a umpire trying to see over someone 6’0″. Velocity and Movement of your pitching staff is another factor. How about how a catcher’s rapport with the umpires around the league? There are many factors that come into play regarding the “pitch framing” analytics. If a catcher is “boxing” pitches and is obviously overmatched, pitchers will refuse to throw to him. A puzzle has many pieces so you need to be careful when judging a player based solely on one specific skill set. Sometimes Defensive statistics can skew a player’s WAR, just ask the Cubs.
astros_fan_84
An automated strike zone?
jd396
It’s coming eventually.
shadowz29r
My reaction every time I see another rumor involving the Braves and a catcher bigmommamemes.com/u069/c8c0c02d-0c2f-467d-9484-6f3…
Brian Meyer
Is Masterson still looking for a starting job? I would be curious to see how he would fare coming out of the pen. He could be Joe Smith for way less money.
jimmyz
Saw some videos of him pitching last year and hes lost a decent amount of velocity. Still has a ton of movement on his pitches though. At this point hes probably just starting depth or a middle reliever, not really a very strong late inning reliever but could be a useful ground ball specialist out of the pen.
ammiel
Pittsburgh will probly turn him into the all-star he once was, if he gets a gig there.
bluejaysfan
I wouldn’t over look the Jays taking a chance on him. He could be the long man out of the pen and with the recent relationship with Shapiro and Atkins it could be a good fit. This would also give them their much needed starting depth if needed
jimmyz
If youre talking about masterson he was in AAA for pittsburgh all last year and never got to the bigs
Rob66
It should be a battle between the Angels, Orioles and Padres for Masterson. Surely he is seeking a Big League spot and those teams might be the best fits.
bleacherbum
I agree, I think San Diego might be the best fit. They could offer him one of the open rotation slots & not to mention he went to San Diego state & would be able to train there throughout the offseason and during days off in season. Aaron Harang who was another San Diego state alum, did the same thing 5 years ago or so after fizzling out in Cincinatti, signed a 1 year deal in San Diego, got to sleep in his own bed every night, play in his hometown & it really got his career back on track and he extended it a few more years after that with a couple different clubs.
ottomatic
OK, so how about a team that doesn’t have a totally suspect pitching staff like the Twins do signs Wieters (and hence don’t need tons of “stolen” strike calls by good pitch framing b/c their pitchers don’t suck). Problem solved
jtmorgan
The problem is it’s not only getting balls turned to strikes. About 15% of strikes are called balls. Some catchers are good at one or the other and some are just bad overall..
slider32
When a guy is called a good pitch framer, it means he is below average in every thing else. What ever happened to being able to throw runner out and hitting. Most umpires are on to the pitch framing anyway!
BoldyMinnesota
Lol you do realize buster freaking posey just led the league in pitch framing stats last year. And quality catchers like Grandal, cervelli and Molina were in the top 10. Not sure those guys are below average at every thing else.
randomness lez
You do realize that just about every day in MLB our friends Hunter Wendelstadt, CB Bucknor, and Angel Hernandez are putting on their chest protectors and shin guards, don’t you?
chound
I don’t want to imply that I “know” anything Braves related but Wieters doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Everyone knows they’re kicking tires but the expected expense is a key cog into not going after him and the defense as laid out is second and those are the two most important factors for any future Braves catcher. I do see the Braves (however) having massive MiLB turnover at the catcher position… No reason to not keep drafting catchers till they get a pair they love.
bmore12
The Orioles need to let wieters walk. Sign hundley for a year to bridge the gap to sisco.
piersall55
Framing pitches and strike zone awareness could be cleaned up by resorting to the old dependable strike zone that has been in use for over 100 years. The high strike at the letters and the low at the knees. Umpires should square up behind the catcher rather than side saddle and just guess at the offside pitch. This would solve a multitude of problems; more strikes would be called forcing hitters to swing more rather than working the count. The game moves quicker, but these logical suggestions will never be adopted umpire’s egos would be bruised as they wouldn’t be able to showboat.
giants51
He’s 40 years old and over the hill…… move on….. Get younger
garrog1949
Braves should sign Weiters( 3years for 41 mil.),Trade with Rox,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Blair,Wisler,Demeritte,Ruiz,Gant,R.Sanchez and B.Davidson FOR Arenado and J.Hoffman..