The Athletics are at least “considering” pursuit of veteran backstop Matt Wieters, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). It’s unclear just how much interest the Oakland organization has; multiple unnamed rival organizations are also said to be involved.
Wieters, now 32, first qualified for free agency after the 2015 season. At the time, he was considered a high-quality, everyday backstop, but he was also coming off of two injury-plagued campaigns and took a qualifying offer to remain with the Orioles. Despite a subpar 2016 campaign, the Nationals promised him $21MM over two years (while also giving Wieters an opt-out chance that he did not ultimately take).
Add it all up, and Wieters owns a tepid .235/.303/.376 batting line in 1,200 plate appearances over the past three campaigns. Though he still draws average reviews for his blocking and throwing, Wieters has graded out as a negative in the pitch framing department. Of course, he’s also a respected veteran who seemed to suit the pitchers who worked with him in D.C., so there’s room for interpretation regarding his defensive value.
Wieters obviously does not profile as a regular receiver at this point, but the former fifth overall pick does still seem like a reasonable target for the right team. The fact that he hits from both sides of the plate adds to the appeal, along with his clubhouse gravitas. For the Athletics, there’s clearly room to improve a depth chart that’s presently topped by Josh Phegley and Chris Herrmann. Wieters ought to be an affordable option and still has a bit of pop; perhaps the A’s will stake a bet on the hope that he’ll be reinvigorated in a timeshare situation.
Print those World Series tickets now!
Not sure if you follow baseball but they played in the AL wild card game with a team full of AAA players. A few small moves and they can win division.
If they were a team of AAA players, they would have finished last.
He looks like a cheap, good fit and small upgrade over Lucroy.
He’s not my first choice, but he’s alright if he’s going to cheap ($1-2 million on a 1 year deal). Also: 6.4 % BB, 14.3 % K, .084 ISO, .273 babip, .241 avg, .291 obp, .325 slg, .271 wOBA, 70 wrc+ and very positive non pitch framing defense for Lucroy vs 11.1 % BB, 16.6 % K, .136 ISO, .261 babip, .238 avg, .330 obp, .374 slg, .308 wOBA, 89 wrc+ which is better than the average catcher (8.0% BB, 23.5 % K, .140 ISO, .284 babip, .232 avg, .304 obp, .372 slg, .296 wOBA, 84 wrc+) and less positive non framing defense for Weiters in less playing time.
A’s should be going after Nick Hundley. I’m surprised I haven’t seen them linked to him yet.
I’m rooting for Wieters. Not his fault Nats were idiots and gave him 2 years. Yes, it ****ed up their luxury tax situation, but their owners were never ones to be deterred by spending (as evidenced by Nats outbidding Yankees, one year $40M for Corbin.)
Yes it was his fault. 2 years and the tax situation weren’t the problems. The problem was Wieters just isn’t good. That he he didn’t hit much for the Nats didn’t matter as much as that he’s a terrible catcher. Over the last 6 years he has a -28 DRS. And when a bat-first catcher doesn’t hit, like he hasn’t for the last 3 seasons, he has negative value. Teams are much better off with a good defensive catcher that can;t hit a lick than they are with a guy like Wieters.
Wieters has always been judge by potential rather than performance. It took people many years to admit he wasn’t going to become the next Johnny Bench. It took a few years after that for people to realize he’d lost most of his value. He’s sort of like Andrew Luck, who was labeled one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL before he started his first pro game.
Took you way longer than usual to make this about the Yankees. You’re slipping.
I noticed he is giving credit to the yanks for not overspending on corbin… where was he when the yanks signed DJ, gardner, cc, happ and that righty reliever that’s had one good season?
“where was he when” You’d be hard pressed too find an article he hasn’t posted at least three times on….
LOL
Seems like he could share the duties with Russell Martin with the Dodgers
No chance. Much rather have Barnes
I remember the “experts” calling this guy “Mauer with Power.” This guy has been a bust. Should have been a top 5 catcher.
obvious not a bust when he has more rumors than you
He was definitely a bust. Mauer with Power was the huge thing. I think he has maybe 2 seasons with 20HR’s hitting in OPACY half the time? Weak sauce.
Only 1, 5 WAR season and was ranked #1 overall among all prospects. back in ’09. Yea he’s been a bust.
@ HardWorkingAmerican
Matt Weiters has made 59,752,000 in his career. I bet if you 2 put your career earnings together you would have close to 59,800,000
Don’t ever hate a guy with 7 figures in the bank.
I will hate. As a Hard Working American I am entitled to hate. This scrub has been handed a silver spoon and probably knows nothing about manual labor. The dude probably has to pay somebody to change his own oil.
The Red Sox seem to be a perfect match for the A’s pursuit of a catcher. Sox need a bullpen arm and A’s need a C. Done deal.
What catcher do the red Sox have that anyone might want? They are all AAAA players.
I know they didnt hit but I think Vasquez and the kid Swihart have some value. We’re not asking for Kimbrel n return. Leon probably has no value.
Leon is much more valuable to the Red Sox behind the plate than he is in a trade, he’s a good backup. I think he’ll probably have a season closer to his 2017 numbers this year.
They’re not “pursuing a catcher”, they’re looking for a temporary placeholder so Sean Murphy can get some AAA time before he’s brought up. Much like they did with Trevor Plouffe when Matt Chapman was working on lowering his K rate in early season 2017.
Placeholders don’t cost prospects or players.
He is a Boras client, so of course multiple “unnamed” rival teams are involved…..
Weiters reminds me why Boras how good he is at agent. Almost always, like or not, Boras get client most money available.
Wouldn’t mind it the Giants looked at him, 2 years 12mil he can catch when Posey rests or is at 1st and won’t be around long enough to block Bart, deal would have to make sense, I doubt he wants to take a back seat at this point in career but that’s probably what he’s destined for
About 10 million too much…..
Yeah that would be terrible, even on a one year 2 mil deal I’d balk…….rather have Hundley back even though he’s nothing special either
Totally agree, The Giants would be better off with Garcia backing up Posey. I’m no Hundley fan, but I’d rather seem them re-sign him than sign Wieters.
Yeah fair call, I’m not in love with the idea but if he can be bad for a reasonable price, I’d be open to it
2/12 good speculative investment if you pay for 2014 Weiters potential.
If they can get him cheap, sure. Why not?
He’ll be the AL MVP and Triple Crown winner. Well played, Beane, well played…
Look at Heyman shilling for a Boras client. Shocker.
Does Heyman get a %? He probably should.
As a backup why not but i wouldn’t feel comfortable having him as my #1 catcher.
I don’t really think a return to the AL for Wieters would be such a bad thing. I mean, it’s where he’s had the most success.
give him more ABs than last season he will fit a mold for any team needing a catcher
Catcher is a position where the starter only plays a out 100 to 120 games. Teams need a solid bench player there. He would be a very good second catcher.
Wieters for less than McCann money with incentives, backing up a young catcher would be ideal. Wieters is experienced and “should” make a positive impact for pitchers and the starting catcher.
He’s worth a bench role at this point. And definitely not for the money he’s been paid. Lol
I’ll admit it though, few years ago I was dying for the braves to get him. Glad we didn’t. That is one I was definitely wrong on.
This is a bad idea. He doesn’t do anything to help the A’s except be a catcher. He can’t hit, he gets hurt all the time, and his defense keeps getting worse; bad idea
Just say no!! Unless its under 2.5m
Better than the awful, recently released Maxwell? Better than Maxwell! If the facts outlined in this message trigger you, seek immediate help.
Really though, this has been the most boring offseason in recent memory. I guess I just had high hopes we’d see some action from the big market teams on two 26 year old superstars. Teams were falling over themselves trying to sign all the unknown Cuban players and the more known and less volatile NPB stars (still unproven in MLB), but won’t give the established market value to superstars. I don’t get it, if winning games was their A1 priority, these two would be signed by now.
Funny, it wasn’t that long ago he was looked at as the young soon to be premier catcher that would bolt for the Yankees as soon as he became a free agent…
Sad as the Indians catching situation is I would’ve like to seen them go after him, but of course on a drastic price reduction from his last few seasons.
The A’s don’t sign Boras clients. This isn’t happening.
The A’s catching is very weak. Its like having a pitcher hitting 9th if you look at their hitting numbers. Beane will surely do something to fix the big hole. They only need a 1 year fix until Murphy is ready to take over for a long time.
Based on his stats why would a team want to sign him?
Wieters fills the void in MLB left by the retired Jarrod Saltalamacchia – journeyman C whose been overpaid while underperforming while his defensive skills erode and his bat is quickly disintegrating. He might be able to eke out a couple more years as a backup, but that’s about it.