The Rays’ interest in free-agent catcher Matt Wieters is serious enough that they’ve made a formal offer, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. However, the team’s offer is “likely for one year” and would be less lucrative than whatever figure Wieters and agent Scott Boras are still hoping to find in free agency. FanRag’s Jon Heyman first tweeted word of Tampa Bay’s offer to Wieters, though he cautioned that they may not be the front-runner to land his services.
Even a $10MM guarantee would be a fairly surprising sum for the Rays to offer, Topkin opines, though he notes that perhaps “creativity and incentives” could push the potential value of an offer beyond that threshold. Tampa Bay’s hope is that the switch-hitting Wieters will be enticed by the opportunity to work with a superior pitching staff and receive regular at-bats between catcher and, later in the year (when Wilson Ramos is healthy enough to take some of the time at catcher), designated hitter.
The question Wieters and Boras must now weigh is how long they’re willing to wait out the spring market. An injury to a contending club’s starting catcher would immediately create a new potential landing spot and could certainly lead to a larger offer (in terms of total dollars and/or years), but there’s certainly no guarantee of any such fit arising. Wieters’ camp could also look to drum up a bidding war between teams that are willing to sign him for one year; ESPN’s Jayson Stark tweeted yesterday that the Nationals still have interest in Wieters but wouldn’t be likely to offer anything more than a one-year pact. It’s not clear whether Boras and Wieters have dropped their asking price to the one-year range just yet, though I’d imagine that if they did, there’d be more clubs beyond the Rays and Nationals that were willing to try to make something work.
As it stands, the Rays will enter the season with Curt Casali and Luke Maile as their lead catchers on the 40-man roster, with veterans Michael McKenry and Jesus Sucre in camp as non-roster invitees. Ramos is reportedly eyeing a May return to the team, Topkin tweeted yesterday, but that’s an ambitious goal for a catcher who suffered his second career ACL tear late last September.
The 30-year-old Wieters is coming off a season in which he batted .243/.302/.409 with 17 home runs in 464 plate appearances. His at-bats were limited early on as he ramped back up to full durability after missing much of the 2014-15 seasons due to Tommy John surgery, but Wieters was catching a significant workload by September of last season. He routinely draws poor framing marks, however, and his market has seemingly been hampered by that fact this winter as teams place a continually growing emphasis on that ability when evaluating backstops.
Wieters will either go the Rays or Angels. If Wieters goes to the Rays- that potential lineup w/ Longo Rasmus Ramos Wieters is a good one.
Optimism in this new year must be nice. I’m a Rays fan, but I think you need to temper your expectations a lot. They are counting on a lot of bounce back, recover from “x” injury, and Souza.
No not really lol. Souza is nothing but a complement to this team whatever he does is just to help. He’s not a big hitter we are counting on
Rasmus is likely on the DL to start the season. Souza is slated for everyday RF, which is sad given his disappointing and injury prone career so far. Miller had a career year. Dickerson is the only guy I could see bouncing back. But good on you for your blind optimism… lol
Blind optimism?? Numbers are optimism?
Souza Jr. put up a 106 wRC+ prior to hurting his hip. He’s an above-average, two-way player that made real strides with his defense last year. I see him getting more days off this year, but he will still be a vital part of the offensive attack.
Not a Rays fan at all, just here to tell you PECOTA has the Rays as an 87 win team. Means nothing, of course, and I think as of now they’re in for a 4th place finish in the east, but I do see why people like them.
PECOTA… see what they projected for Weiters rookie year. Absolute joke. Never followed there projections again.
Souza isn’t penciled in as the starting RF… besides, I’m pretty certain that we can expect a nice bounce back from Dickerson considering his back half of the season. Also we will have Cobb and Kiermaier back. I feel very optimistic. I am far from the point where I predict the Rays win the Division, but I feel like we at least have a shot at the WC if everything works out. We will at least be a lot better then 68-94.
Exactly my point. Thank you
Then your point is: IF everything works out the unicorns will dance and rainbows will cover the sky eternal. Too many “if” and once he is healthy for me to feel good.
This seems to be a really common theme here. People only look at the “everything goes right” outcomes and freak out whenever anyone reminds them how improbable and unrealistic that is.
It could happen, but expecting it to happen is foolish.
And watching kc38 continue to make baseless claims and then just shift the goal posts when he’s shown to be wrong is hilarious.
I found it fun for a considerable amount of time; sadly it wore off and now I will actually have to be productive…
I have to admit that after last season’s performance I felt like that the Rays should go into full rebuild mode, but perhaps it isn’t quite as bad as that. I don’t however see them being much better than a 75 win team. There are just too many things that I think would have to go right for them to be much better than that.
Longoria is getting older and more expensive and while Archer has done great before this past season was in some ways a “down season” for him (so I understand that if they do decide to sell on Archer they would want him to regain some value). I’m not really sure that the Rays are nothing more than an also ran this season.
And what exactly are my baseless claims?
I’m sorry bro, the game of baseball is just that. You don’t know who will have a down year, get hurt, or maybe set the world on fire. All I can say right now, is the Rays have had a good offseason. They’ve added some good players (Ramos, Rasmus, brought back LoMo), and I’m very optimistic about the new season. The Rays still have some gaping holes (*cough* bullpen *cough*) so I’m excited to see what happens in the next couple weeks.
At this point, the Rays won’t be Boston. There, satisfied? Now I think the Rays could be second or third, with the Rays potentially, POTENTIALLY, grabbing the WC. After watching the Rays go 68-94 last year, and seeing them bring in some good players, how can I not be optimistic?
Because they suck?
Exactly. Optimism comes from examining something. And seeing an attempt and effort to help the team and I think we did tremendously. And I don’t see archer leading the league in losses again so how are we not gonna be improved. Truly don’t understand
Agreed. I do believe Archer is overrated, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a quality pitcher. The Rays also only scored 672 runs while giving up 713, so with the upgraded bats, the Rays should score more (and obviously) win more. Very excited!
Where’s the like button. Praise god for this post. If being a baseball fan isn’t about being optimistic and feeling good about your team in spring, wtf is it about ? This brotherhood of discontent approach, or malcontent in the case of opposing fans, always baffles me.
@ducksnort69- So, you’re telling me that adding Rasmus, Ramos, maybe Wieters pairing WITH Longoria isn’t a decent lineup? That’s what my comment was talking about. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I didn’t project anything, did I?
The Rays actually went out and spent some money this offseason and as a Rays fan they don’t do that often- which leads to my hopeful optimism that I do have for this season. Every team is dealing with a “if X does this” group of players, right? Not saying you have to have my level of optimism, but that is where I stand and hopefully we can enjoy this 2k17 season together, as Rays fans!
their line up is projected to be 18/30. Is that decent?
Come at me with that prediction in October, then we’ll see, yeah?
Except Rasmus is a terrible player and you will only get 1/2 season at best with Ramos and I doubt Weiters will join that circus.
Plus brad Miller- 30 hr, Kevin kiermaier has hit much better. Lineup would be pretty could.
Good*
he’s not going to angels.
The White Sox also seem like a fit on a one year deal. Anything is better than what they have on hand.
Nice. He can also play some first and hit some DH
Unless he can be had for 6 million a year, he will be an albatross for a cheap owner like Sternberg who is leveraging for a new stadium. Better to sign 2-3 guys(bullpen, DH) for that and hope one strikes gold.
Why would you use him at DH or 1B? He is a below average hitter who was outhit last year by most current Rays including fan favorites Tim Beckham and Steven Souza.
He is a better catcher than the current healthy group on this team, so offer whatever you think is fair for 110-120 games behind the plate. I’m guessing 1/6 or 2/10.
Not below average in the trop. Look up his numbers there. You’ll be impressed
I just did. Last year Wieters had a .571 OPS at the Trop. That is terrible. Should I want him even less now?
Oh I forgot silly me. OPS is the only thing that matters. My fault
You’re the one who said he is is a great hitter at the Trop and that is why the Rays should sign him. I left alone all the problems with that ridicules argument and used your reasoning. He had a slash of .238/.333/.238/.571. He was so great at hitting at the Trop that he didn’t have any extra base hits. That is fantastic or do you plan on moving the goal posts again?
It is a basic stat that measures a player’s contribution with the bat. Guess we are supposed to use our “gut”. His and Pearce’s numbers at the Trop are kind of a small sample and likely not super helpful overall.
Over 100 at bats isn’t real small
First of all I don’t know how many times you’re gonna use your dumb analogy of moving the goal posts but it’s not funny and for two you look up just last year. Which was 23 abs. I said career. Which I found yesterday but I can’t seem to find them now I forgot where I found them but know his batting average was .317 lifetime with 17 homers in 100 abs. I get it’s not all about batting average if I could find them again I would buti know they were excellent. I don’t like to judge 1 year at a time. Very misleading. Learn to read
All of the positive production came when he was still a good hitter. pbs.twimg.com/media/C4zmpovVcAAyFCH.jpg
The last three years he has had 45 PA with a line of .190/.244/.190 The meaningless stuff that you are quoting carries even less meaning than you are aware. Stay condescending, though. It makes it even easier to disregard everything that you think and say.
yes, it is. That’s like 1/5 a season of abs. Do we judge a player based on 1/5 of a season? I sure hope no one tries to draw meaningful conclusions from that.
Therealryan and kc38- this is a pointless exercise. He was hitting against Rays’ pitching. He won’t be doing that anymore. You can completely throw those numbers out the window, as they mean absolutely nothing.
Well it was the same for Steve Pearce and he came here and raked and nobody said a thing?? Very strange. Everyone just said what a great move to bring a guy in who crushes here and is on our side now. But now that I say that about someone else now it’s meaningless because you just try and tear me down lol
try to tear you down, awww fragile snow flake.
I think people look for narratives to write about and explain moves that teams make. It’s not really a solid argument though. If you wanna look at things like a players pull tendencies and batted ball distances or type of contact and think they might fit into ball parks with fitting dimensions, that’s one thing, but basing an idea that hitter X will hit well if you bring him in because he hit well in your park vs your pitchers in a sample size of like 100 ish abs over the course of 7 years or whatever, that doesn’t make a ton of sense.
No one should try to draw any meaningful conclusions of a batters’ overall performance from something like 100abs. There are certain stats that do tend to stabilize quicker than others, but to get the whole picture it normally takes a lot more than 100 abs. The amount of volatility in a baseball players performance in that short of a window can be huge. If you don’t believe me, look through some players month by month splits to see what I mean. They aren’t 100abs either, but you can see the changes in short plate appearance windows of about 65-75.
Last year was he was still rebuilding from surgery. Historically he rakes against Rays at Trop.
Here we go….
In what world is Wieters going to get more than $8M for this coming season? Poor defensive catchers that don’t make it up with the bat are like the pea under the shell. Constantly shifting location until it’s time to move on again. Also, you’re forgetting Michael McKenry.
Agh! Forgot McKenry signed there. How can I leave off The Fort? (Such a great nickname.) Thanks for that. Adding now.
I only mention, because digging into some lineup stuff yesterday he jumped off the page as an unheralded, serviceable C during this Rays time of need. At least versus lefties where the OBP plays up, big league. Not great defensively, but Casali is fine when you prefer to go glove-first. Both hit lefties well, and McKenry better vs. righties. I wasn’t aware of the nickname, but that is great, and I will be stealing. Hold the line until August, and hope Ramos hits enough until then to justify the DH status. theprocessreport.net/optimizing-the-lineup/
Loved The Fort when he was a pirate, such a shame he can’t land a backup catchers job, always thought he was good enough for that.
Have you watched Wieters play over the last seven years or are you relying on “sabermetrics” to decide that Wieters is a poor defensive catcher? He still has a very good throwing arm, he blocks balls well, he’s the best in the game at making the play at the plate in the new “you can’t block home plate” paradigm. The only thing he does poorly, according to the sabermetricians, is “pitch framing”, which is really overrated. The umpires are watching the ball where it crosses the plate, the catcher is catching (and framing) the ball two feet behind the plate.
Also, not sure where you get the “not making it up with bat” idea. Last season, which by all accounts was a poor season for him, he had an offensive WAR of 1.4. Whether you believe in WAR or not, it is difficult to argue that a catcher who hits .250 who hits 15-20 HRs per season is a lousy offensive catcher.
The reason the O’s didn’t bring him back had more to do with his perceived contract demands than anything else.
Then why is he not signed yet if he is such a stud? Teams obviously don’t value him like you do.
Most likely because his agent is overreaching and I’m sure Matt wants a long term deal.
You’re correct that he is a fine thrower and blocker, but those are such small parts of catcher defense. The ability to save and steal strikes is just so much more important. Most of the credit for a stolen base or caught stealing goes to the pitcher or the fielder receiving the throw. There are situational times when it is hyper important to block the ball, or at least, give the pitcher confidence that a spiked chase pitch will not lead to a whiff and a run. The frequency of these events, however, makes their importance incredibly small. In comparison, having an impact on every single pitch, not just saved nibbles or stolen forays into the wide zone, but increasing the confidence in a pitcher that knows he doesn’t need to catch the meat of the zone to get a strike is tremendous. Ask all those Orioles pitchers how much they liked seeing 1-1 turn into 2-1 or 2-1 into 3-1 on borderline pitches how much they like the arm on Wieters. Knowing that you have to throw a pitch into the fat part of the zone when you absolutely need a strike means the pitcher has already lost the war before releasing the ball.
Here’s mister negative ignorant. Don’t try and have a convo with him anyone you’ll be wrong. He’s the Rays gm apparently
He does have some deficiencies but you’ll also love him when he makes a handful of impossible tags at the plate resulting in ending another teams momentum or when he hits a three run homer in last at bats for the win. From someone that watched him every game since his debut I see a guy that still has upside on both sides of the ball. Maybe I’m being fooled by his second half last year but as his arm got healthier recovering from TJ he looked better and better. I think he will have a couple career years in him and whatever team gets him for 2/20 is going to look brilliant
Agreed as someone who watched him all these years. He’s also a very smart catcher. All the Os players say Matt will end up being a manager one day.
Since you have seen every game he has ever played how many times has he hit a walk off 3 run homer to win the game? How many times a year does he make a play at the plate MORE than the typical player. The things you are talking about happen so infrequently as to not even mention.
Over his career. I have seen Matt win the game many times. Either with a walk off hit or a tag at the plate. Just ask Adam Jones and JJ Hardy if they will miss Matts tags. And I firmly believe that Matt calls a great game. I’ll admit the last two years haven’t been his best but mentally he’s a great catcher. Just an opinion.
Who cares if a catcher can hit or throw out base runners….as long as he can “frame”.
Framing is so very fun to watch.
It’s totally good for the game for catchers who can hit and throw to lose their jobs to guys who can fool near senile old men standing behind them while hitting like pitchers.
The fans can’t get enough of it.
Former catchers constantly talk about the importance of receiving the ball. This is a play that happens 60-70 or more times each and every game and you believe that skill to be overrated, yet praise him for his ability to catch a throw in front of the plate and make a swipe tag as important. How often does that happen in a season?
I also never said he was a poor offensive catcher, last year he was average for a catcher. I said he is a terrible option for 1B or DH and he is. He also is nothing but a back up in St Pete once Ramos comes back. At most, he catches 100-110 games this year and 50-60 next year. What is an average hitting catcher with at best average defense worth for that amount of playing time? I’d say 1/6 or maybe 2/10. How much would you give him to be a part time player?
He’s not part time. Ramos can start catching in later July or August that means wieters has the starting job pretty much most of the year and Ramos won’t be catching everyday once he comes back wieters will then alternate catching and 1b and dh. How in the hell is he part time. He’ll be out there pretty much everyday
Why would you put a below average hitter at 1B or DH? Wieters is an ok hitter if you compare him to other weak hitting catchers. If you compare him to average MLB hitter he is below average. If you compare him to an average 1B he is well below average. He was out hit last year by Tim Beckham and Steven Souza. The Rays would be better off playing Beck at 1B or Souza at DH than Wieters.
Most catchers don’t hit like everyday players. Very few. So I guess if it’s not buster Posey then they just don’t matter. Because casali hits much better. We will win more games with casali I see your point
*sarcasm*
And I’m glad to see Beckham learned how to play catcher over the offseason. Love the versatility
I wouldn’t say Wieters is below average just because of one season…
I’m sorry you struggle with reading comprehension. Try it again and you might see where you said he should be The DH or 1B when not catching and I said that is foolish. I’ll wait for you to try reading again. Should I expect an apology or are you going to try and move the goal posts again?
I’m not. I’m saying he is a below average hitter because he has a 95 wRC plus over his last 1500 PA. Those PA are also through his prime years and he has been trending down the last several years. That’s not surprising for a big bodied catcher on the wrong side of 30 who has over 800 games on his body. It also doesn’t bode well for a likely uptick in production though.
No need for insults. I was talking more so about his bat. Thanks for explaining what you meant.
Sorry if I insulted you cubsfan. That wasn’t my intent at all. I was just explaining in more detail why I feel how I do about Wieters.
If it was the reading comprehension comment, that was for KC38 and his sarcasm comment that was based on an incorrect premise to begin with. One he has made several times in these posts.
So since he isn’t playing catcher full time he’s a waste because he’ll have to play 1b or dh because there’s much better options out there than him. Beckham as a right hitting 1b is just sad.
Thanks for clearing that up realryan
The only way the Rays get Weiters is if they overpay for said production of poor defense and weak bat. They seem to be pariahs in the eyes of many free agents. Personally, I think Carter would have been worth more to them as an overpay(4-4.5 mil) if Boras is looking for 8-10 mil.
Ok carter isn’t a catcher which we need. Our catchers can’t hit. And wieters hits very very very well at the trop. Same thing we did with Pearce last year. Bring in a guy who crushes at the trop and guess what? He crushed at the trop. And he’s an upgrade over our catchers we have right now.
They needed a right handed bat that plays everyday. You value Weiters more than me. I think their current weak crop will be okay compared to Weiters. Now, putting Souza into 4th outfielder role with Carter DHing everyday immediately upgrades the current lineup.
So casali is who you want catching most of the year again. Wow what a joke we would be. Yeah let’s run casali out there you’re gonna make the playoffs that way. Matt absolutely blows away the non hitting minor leagues catchers we have.
He is an upgrade right now, but won’t be once Ramos comes back. I’m hearing that the Rays expect Ramos to be able to catch by the second half of the season. Even if Ramos only catches every other game that means 100-110 games catching for Wieters. How much is that worth for an average hitting catcher, below league average, and a poor framer? A skill that the Rays have shown to be extremely important to them.
It’s nice when you completely leave out how much he would cost. If he is signed for 5 million, then yeah, great upgrade. But hopefully you understand if his price falls that low, 5 other teams will get him. In a vacuum, he is an upgrade. But for 8-10 million? They can spend that better by signing a bullpen guy AND a DH/position player.
You guys are also forgetting that Weiters knows the whole division. The Rays would be picking up a guy who knows all the strength and weaknesses of the Rest of the division hitters.
He’s also a switch hitter and most of us would say he hits better from the left. But regardless he’s not a liability when you have a left or right pitcher.
Do you realize that even with how terrible the Rays catchers were last year, they were still better than the Indians’ catchers?
Because for half a season we won’t be dealing with casali!!!! What is so hard to understand we are not comparing Ramos. Ramos is much better we are comparing casali!!!!! And if you can’t see he is a huge improvement over him then you don’t know a thing about baseball.
If we were gonna spend money on a bullpen guy don’t you think we would’ve done it and not offered a contract to wieters? Oh wait you know more than our own management. You’re genius
Yup correct. But the rest of our offense didn’t match theirs so catcher is more needed for us and our pitching was terrible. What’s your point
And look what they did tried to go all in for lucroy. They were trying. Just like I’m saying Rays should do. Try
I’m not a genius. You are also 100% not a genius. Now, again, if the Rays sign him, they are going to have to outbid most teams. Personally, if that is 6 million or below, I’m on board. If it’s 8-10, I think it’s a dumb risk.
This. I have no problem with Wieters for the right price, but he is only a marginal upgrade for the playing time he will get here.
Playing time is not a problem again not too sure why anyone thinks that. And I don’t get he mentality. It’s one year then he’s off the books. The 10 million won’t be utilized elsewhere. If you guys make any sense then why didn’t we sign carter or Napoli. You say we need a rhh for cheap then why don’t we have them? Why did we offer to wieters but didn’t wanna offer more to carter if he’s more valuable. Oh wait because you have no idea what you’re talking about I think out front office does.
If you argue with someone in the morning about something trivial maybe they’re the ahole, but when you find yourself spending all day arguing over something trivial, maybe it is you that is the ahole?
No just trying to get thick headed people to break down and open their eyes instead of being blind and ignorant to the world. Everyone thinks they are the gm and that’s that. Their opinion is the only thing that matters. They don’t even consider my points they just say you’re dumb.
They say you’re dumb because you use anecdotal evidence and “facts” that have been shown to be incorrect. This is all while giving you the benefit of the doubt and ignoring the faulty logic at the basis of your claims.
The fact that you think you are somehow above these “thick headed” people who are the ones showing you stats and actually explaining why your arguments are flawed is hilarious. Your points have obviously been considered because people have taken the time to explain to you why they are incorrect or non-convincing.
The rays could very well be a good team with some luck. That doesn’t mean that people who see the holes in their team and bring them up are wrong or trying to break you down. They’re being realistic.
Agree fully on Carter. There is plenty of room for both him and Logan Morrison between 1B/DH even with Ramos in the picture. Rays could use one more good righty stick even if he can’t play a position.
Crack in the dam for Boras. He can now start leveraging interest. I still think 2 years, $22M, $9M first year, mutual option for 2nd year, $2M buyout for team.
pitch framming is a terrible stat, he is a great defensive catcher hope my rays sign him.
Most MLB front offices appear to disagree with you; especially the Rays.
While many experts and former catchers will disagree with you on the value of pitch framing, the only opinion that matters here is the Rays’ and they have proven through the years that they value it highly.
Then why did they make him an offer?
That offer is likely pretty low. Weiters has value, just nothing close to what Boras is selling. Also, I’m guessing this report is about leveraging other teams into upping the final bid.
Because until Ramos comes back, the Rays have pretty poor options. I think he would be a worth while upgrade for the right price for a part time catcher. I say 1/6. That’s a fair price for an ok catcher to go out there 100-110 games.
Well good thing the Rays don’t care what boras wants. So not sure what you’re even talking about obviously he’s not worth that much and nobody is arguing he is. We are saying he’s an upgrade to our team and will allow us to win more. You make no sense at all
Boras needs to come to terms with the fact that the Brinks truck is not showing up for Wieters now or ever. He’ll probably have to play on 1-year contracts for the rest of his career.
Lock down your catchers, cause the Rays and diamondbacks are going to try and sign them
At this point Wieters will most likely have to settle for a one year deal worth around 8-9M, possibly with a second year option. He’s still serviceable but he’s nowhere close to as good as Boras is trying to sell him. He is one of the worst defensive catchers in the league and his hitting isn’t what it used to be. He’s obviously declining and Boras is trying to sell him as a catcher in his prime.
I think it depends on what value you put on a catcher calling a game. The Orioles consistently are picked to be last every year and for the past five years we’ve overachieved according to the baseball Pros. Buck Showalter has said the Matt is the best catcher he’s ever worked with and that’s saying something. He is a 4 time AS and 2 time Gold Glove. The Os pitchers say he calls a great game is an incredibly hard worker and studied the batters tirelessly. The Os have consistently had one of the best infields in MLB and all of them would say that Matt is like a coach on the field.
I guarantee that Boras and Money were the only reasons he’s not back with the Os. he’s also supposedly one of the nicest guys and wonderful teammate.
I hate to see him leave Baltimore and will hate to watch him play with a Division Rival but he lives in Sarasota so it would be great for his family. Hope the Rays pick him up.
Thank you for your input to These clueless people
Had to sign up just to comment. I understand this new obsession with Pitch Framing but Matt still is an above average catcher. The Os have a really great kid in the minors so I knew they weren’t really going to give Matt a long term deal which I’m sure he wanted. Boras always over reaches unfortunately.
If doubting Weiters is valuable at the price that has been assumed(obviously lower than he and his agent predicted) is clueless, then please provide more than empty platitudes to explain. Example: at 8-10 million, given the cheap Rays ownership, do you think he is worth that? I said at 5-6 million he is an upgrade, but if the assumed 10 million plus incentives is the price he is not worth it.
Considering we aren’t gonna spend the money on anything else then why not upgrade a huge hole.
Nice to see accurate analysis from a fan of another team. Nobody will doubt he has room for improvement but the work he puts in with the talent he has is well worth a one or two year deal. You can see the professional in him all the time and he’s definitely a gamer. I think the Os would have never signed Castillo if they knew what Wieters market would become. When Castillo was released and the Os needed a fill for 1-2 years how can you blame them for getting him on a decent deal too.
I agree. I don’t believe Buck would have wanted to lose Matt if not for the fact that Matt deserved his time as a Free Agent and to get the most for his family. But had they known the market would drop for him and had WC not been available at the beginning they would still be in market. Because they know the value Matt brings to a pitching staff.
I’m actually an O’s fan who watches every single game. Since his surgery, Wieters hasn’t been the same catcher. Leading the league in passed balls is pretty bad for a 4x all star and 2x GG winner.
Agreed. But that was a year after major surgery. I’d be curious to see how many of those passed balls were from Britton. His sinker is nasty and most MLB catchers would have a really hard time. It’s unfortunate for Matt that his poor defense year came in his FA year.
Also isn’t WCastillo in the bottom as well with passed balls?. And now he has to catch Britton. And he’s going to be off in the WBC and lose time during spring. I personally would rather have Matt back. At least we know he fits the chemistry in the clubhouse.
Ramos & Wellington Castillo Killed his market
Both guys are better than Weiters & signed fora round $6 mil per season.
Ramos might not catch this season, despite his own faith in his broken knees. That tanked his value. But I agree Weiters is not near as valuable as Boras has been stating and the market has born that out.
Ramos is gonna catch this year. Who are you???? His doctor?
Not his doctor, just realistic about knees and catchers. I hope he gets behind the dish, but it’s likely to be very limited in 2017. He’s going primarily DH. Even DHing won’t happen till mid June at the earliest.
He says may 1st. Even push back a little isn’t mid June. Doesn’t make senses
Recent talk from Topkin has alluded that even Ramos himself has slowed his timetable. Add that to the usually slow approach the Rays take and mid June is very optimistic. Hopefully he comes in sooner, rakes, and catches half the season, but logic says otherwise.
He says may 1st. The Rays said they aren’t gonna hold him back but again not rush. I get he pushed his own timetable back. That’s not another month and a half. That’s not logic that’s stupid
I still wish the braves would go get him. Drives me up a wall.
I wish the Reds would make him an offer. Move Mesoraco to LF. If it’s a one-year deal, then I would argue that it gives Mesoraco a chance to fully heal from two injury-filled seasons. It seems crazy for him to immediately resume everyday catching responsibilities after all his surgeries. And for Weiters, it’s a chance to prove he’s a candidate for a multi-year deal by playing in a small ballpark that makes fly balls into bombs.
If it’s a multi-year deal, then maybe it’s a chance to do some platooning. Weiters could be DH in AL parks, backup at 1b, and share catching responsibilities with Mesoraco.
Reds are not gonna be able to sign wieters lol. He would never ever ever choose to play there over someone like the Rays, or nats, and Angels
Yeah…let’s move someone with recurring hip issues to the outfield
Pay? That’s ot the Rays Way!
paying people with value down is the rays way. Wilson ramos is one example
Sorry for the double posts. Not sure why the app keeps doing that.
Any time people want to bash Huntingdon or Nutting, just remember how bad Littlefield and McClatchy were….
They drafted a reliever with the #4 overall pick instead of Matt Wieters who went #5.
Not a top pitching prospect who ended up being a reliever later….nope, just some scrub reliever to save money.
I like this signing if it goes through. I think the Rays will surprise people this year.
If they sign weiters or not, I expect the Rays to be sneaky good this season. If they can get Archer to bounce back, have a full season of Cobb/Snell, and the position players can stay healthy, they could be a .500 team, possibly be within shouting distance of a WC spot
People aren’t looking at the people we have coming back and maturing more they just look at last years numbers and say that’s the player they are
Doubled the amount of Rays fans I’ve met today. They do have fans
I’m a Marlins fan so I watch here and there some Rays games..so I’ve gotta say if I was a Rays fan I’d be pleased with the team the front office put together for this year.. the pieces they added complement the team they had last year very well.. lots of potential but then again potential doesn’t mean much.
Would not be surprised if Wieters ends up with the Braves
The reason I think that Wieter’s market never really developed is that he’s a tough player to place a value on. He’s too expensive to sign as a veteran to help develop young talent. He’s not really good enough to help turn a franchise around or put a contender over the top.
He’s been a solid , if unspectacular, defensive backstop with a decent arm and good success blocking pitches in the dirt. He also has some injury concerns and his defensive metrics have fallen off lately.
Maybe he’s worth a one year deal to try and reestablish some value. 30 is young for some catchers (Russell Martin, Jorge Posada) and the beginning of the end for others (Jason Kendall, Charles Johnson).