The Orioles are showing interest in free agent starter Michael Wacha, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). They’re the first team of the offseason known to be checking in on the right-hander, who’s coming off a decent season with the division-rival Red Sox.
Wacha, 31, inked a one-year, $7MM deal with Boston last offseason. He’d posted a 5.05 ERA in 124 2/3 innings with the Rays the year before and hadn’t found much success keeping runs off the board since 2018. The Red Sox nevertheless took on a flier on a bounceback, placing their faith in a fastball that sat around 94 MPH and a swinging strike rate that had been north of 11% in each of the preceding two seasons.
The former first-round pick rewarded them with his most successful year in a while. Wacha made 23 starts and tallied 127 1/3 innings, pitching to a quality 3.32 ERA. He landed on the injured list twice — first with a left intercostal strain, then with inflammation in his throwing shoulder — but generally kept runs off the board when healthy. Wacha allowed three or fewer runs in 17 of his outings while holding opponents to a .233/.283/.410 line in 515 plate appearances.
Strong control helped him keep runners off base, as he walked only 6% of opponents. Wacha has established himself as a quality strike-thrower, but there also seems to have been a decent amount of fortune in this year’s results. Opponents hit just .260 on their balls in play against him, the lowest BABIP he’d allowed in five years. Wacha’s 20.2% strikeout rate and 41% ground-ball percentage were each slightly lower than the league average.
The Texas A&M product also saw minor dips in his swinging strike number and velocity. He generated whiffs on 9.5% of his pitches, below his 2020-21 levels. Wacha’s average fastball speed also lost a tick, dipping from 93.8 MPH in 2021 to an even 93 MPH this year. ERA estimators like FIP (4.14) and SIERA (4.07) each pegged his true talent a bit north of 4.00 — still useful production, but not quite as impressive as his actual ERA might suggest.
Even if Wacha’s run prevention regresses somewhat, he’s a sensible target for clubs seeking rotation help. Wacha has ten seasons of MLB experience under his belt, and he carries a 4.05 ERA in over 1100 career innings. Other than a brief spike in walks towards the end of his time in St. Louis, he’s shown consistently plus control. That kind of reliability makes him a fine fit at the back half of a contending club’s rotation.
The Orioles entered the offseason searching for rotation help. Jordan Lyles was the only Baltimore pitcher to top 23 starts this past season, and the O’s bought out an $11MM club option at year’s end to send him to the open market. Dean Kremer, Austin Voth, Tyler Wells and Spenser Watkins all posted serviceable or better ERA’s over 15-plus starts, but Voth was the only one with a strikeout rate around league average. Kyle Bradish had a decent strikeout rate but an ERA pushing 5.00. Mike Baumann and DL Hall joined Bradish in seeing some MLB action as rookies, while top prospect Grayson Rodriguez may well have debuted this year if not for a lat injury.
The O’s had a number of internal options to compete for jobs on Brandon Hyde’s starting staff, but everyone in the mix had either limited or no track record of MLB success. Baltimore thus brought in Kyle Gibson on a one-year, $10MM deal last month to add some veteran stability. They’re still expected to add another starter, and Wacha’s one of the remaining options in a free agent class that’s rapidly thinning. MLBTR predicted Wacha for a two-year, $16MM deal at the start of the offseason. He’s one of five unsigned starting pitchers who’d secured a spot on MLBTR’s top 50 free agents, alongside Carlos Rodón, Nathan Eovaldi, Corey Kluber and Drew Rucinski.
Orioles said they send a decent amount instead they sign Gibson and likely Wacha too lmao
A decent amount is relative to the team saying it. If they sign both these players that would be over 20 million next season for 2 FA signings.
For them, that’s a decent amount.
Agreed, Yewed. I’d add that it’s also relative to that given team’s recent history.
If the O’s end up signing Gibson and Wacha, it’d be quite the outlay of cash compared to where they’ve been the past few years and a noted jump in quality of inbound talent.
Absolutely. If they do sign Wacha I assume he’ll at least be in the 12-13 million range.
That and Gibson would equal what they were paying Davis.
I’ll go out on a limb and say they’ll be getting more production from those 2.
Wacha makes sense for the Orioles
Wacha making the rounds through the AL East. Would be a nice get for the O’s
Wacha Flacha
Waka waka
Beat me to it
Fozzzzziiiieeeeee
I wonder if the O’s would like a mulligan on the Lyles’ option, since the free agent market has gone bonkers this season. $11MM for 1 year of Lyles seems like better value now than what they will have to invest in Wacha, who is a slight step down in performance in recent seasons.
They replaced Lyles with Gibson for $1M less.
It ended up being the same due to the buyout.
I still think that money was better spent on Gibson tbh.
This year, Lyles had about as good a season as could be hoped for and Gibson had about as bad of one but their numbers weren’t that far off from one another. For equal money, I’d wager Gibson has more chance to provide excess value on $10M than Lyles would.
I do not agree. And neither player is so compelling as to make convincing arguments either way.
Not entirely sure what the O’s are waiting for, some of the guys they’ve been linked to like Taillon and Syndergaard have beens signed for not overly egregious contracts in my opinion. I hope they aren’t being handcuffed by ownership as has seem to been an issue in the past (justified or not). Maybe they’re trying to see if their young arms are indeed taking a step forward before they start throwing around a lot of money?
scruffmcgruff;
It appears that fans here think the O’s should sign someone because they have a larger budget.
Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal are extremely methodical. They make measured moves.
They may sign Wacha. The issue is: Is he – or anyone else currently available – better by a large degree than what they already have. Don’t forget that in April with the rainouts not as many starters are needed.
The additional money is not burning a hole in their pockets. If they can’t find what they like they may well wait for an in-season transaction where they pick up a pitcher that has a larger contract.
P.S. So far I don’t see an affordable starting pitcher that’s much better than the candidates they already have. Also have to factor in their coaching staff, that’s made very nice improvements to most of their pitchers. Some are going to continue to get better.
Voth, Wells are due for regression. Bradish and Kremer might step back as well. So the front office is putting a lot of pressure on two recently repaired arms in Rodriguez and Means. This is when a trade makes sense. Because if they wait until next winter, free agents won’t believe they’re trying to compete then either.
We’ll be right back to the Thrift/Flanagan/Duquette Orioles.
After this year’s success I hope the O’s keep the chemistry going by not rocking the boat too much. True, some additions are likely needed if they want to keep climbing and capture at least a wild card spot.
Grayson had a lat strain. He does not have a “repaired arm.” Don’t know where you got that.
Bradish looks to improve if he continues to incorporate his sinker in lieu of his 4-seam.
thebiggsscreen;
LOL
Why are Voth and Wells due for regression?
The Orioles coaching staff changed the way they pitch.
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“We’ll be right back to the Thrift/Flanagan/Duquette Orioles.”
You no idea the systems and processes that Elias and Mejdal along with many of their coaches and analysts put in place.
Do you actually think that they do things the way that Thrift, Flanagan, and Duquette did? What do you think has been going on there the past 4 years?
The O’s are the Astros 2.0. They’re patient with their players, and have faith in them until all methods are exhausted and they’re still not producing. All those pitcher’s you’re discounting based on nothing are still young and have potential upside. The O’s coaching staff will work with the pitchers to try to maximize their effectiveness. No one is getting kicked to the curb unless other O’s pitchers beat them out of a job.
Obviously their methodologies differ, I mean the money they offer free agents will be viewed equally worthless as then. We’re already several years past the last multi-year contract.
Yo Samuel I know you just love postulating things without showing proof or citing evidence to substantiate your grandiose assumptions, but it actually does a disservice to the MLBTR community when you do that because it spreads misinformation and false narratives. See how that works?? For example you attack the OP by claiming he has no idea whatsoever about the processes/systems Mejdal & Elias put into place, but where did your special insight cone from then my friend! Do you have a special bat-phone directly to Elias’s desk because otherwise I don’t know how you would have any special inside knowledge that is off limits to folks here…SMH
Well if they stick to trying their hardest to find value and be smart, they will end up witn no one, or just more Gibson and Lyles types. I really don’t think all their starters who went from 7-8 ERA’s to 3-4 with poor strikeout numbers are sustainable. They really need to open up their window to compete. If things go wrong in Toronto they can easily be the second best team.
Exactly. They have to spend wisely. Which still means signing pitchers to flip if things go south. The window is only cracked open at this point. They haven’t got the full on breeze yet.
I think their window is fully open. There was and still is at many spots guys who can put up 700 800 ops or pitch to a 3.50 4.50 era all for under 20 million a year and 1 or 2 year deals. Many under 15 10 and even 5 million.
@DefensiveIndifference Brilliant screenname, +1
It’s cracked is saying the beginning. I thought I alluded to that with the breeze. These are the perfect signings to make at this point in their development.
True, Elias and Mejdal have gotten them to this point slowly but surely. It can’t be an easy decision to know when to go all in on signing free agents and decide that the time is now to go for that championship. Their pitching staff doesn’t have a consistent track record of success that would for sure have you compete for the playoffs. Though I would have tried for Manaea and Syndergaard preferably(not that they didnt), if Gibson and Wacha perform to their overall career major league numbers it would be up to the young starting pitching to push them towards playoff contention. Its not the most sexy way to do things but at the very least if the young guys don’t continue to improve, you wont have to worry about expensive long term contracts dragging you down.
They are in that feeling it out phase. Wanting to announce their presence, but not knowing exactly what they need yet. The O’s are extremely fascinating to me the next few years.
Is he – or anyone else currently available – better by a large degree than what they already have.
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I very rarely hear folks, even writers, talk about this. The whole idea behind free agency is to replace your worst player with the best player you can sign/afford.
This hearkens back to the Desmond signing where, regardless of whether you liked him or not, the Rockies had no position to play him at. It’s what I like about the Correa signing. Like him or not, he is a perfect fit.
Taillon was a fair price but I wouldn’t want to pay that much for what he brings. Either go elite or go cheap. Just because LA got Noah for 13 doesn’t mean Baltimore would. I would expect them to have to pay 20 or more years. Baltimore likely isn’t making the playoffs, coin flip at best and probably wouldn’t be there long. LA is a pretty sure thing. Even more important is all they had to tell him was, see what we did for Tyler Anderson, we believe we can do that for you. Wacha Gibson could both be 4ish era guys. Wacha even better upside.
Wacha could be 4ish
Gibson too, if by “4ish” you mean 4.90.
Skeptical, dude might break the bank. Can’t see that gargantuan team payroll next year go over $30 million. That would be Armageddon.
They are handcuffed by ownership just look at the off-season ownership is a joke. They will have the bottom 4 payroll when the season begins
Bnick;
No.
Yep, O’s are going nowhere. Regression guaranteed.
lol no
“Guaranteed” he says. Sounds like a perfect guy to bet against.
H E Pennypacker;
Based on what?
What are your credentials?
Waiting to see which midnight blockbuster makes a splash tonight. Wacky take: Rodon to Rockies on 8 year deal. (You know , to pair up with the Bryant contract from last off-season. Cosmic Symmetry.)
Or Swanson if they need a ss. Rockies can always surprise.
To lure a talented pitcher to Colorado that’s probably going to need to be an 8yr 400m dollar deal. Rough place to pitch.
Liftoff!!!
Why when a hitter has a high BABIP or a pitcher has a low BABIP do people automatically assume that either play was lucky.
Here’s a thought, maybe the pitcher was good at inducing weak contact and/or mossing barrels, or the hitter was good at hitting the ball where the defense wasn’t…
Now, if a pitcher gives up alot of line drives and has a high average exit velo/hard hit rate against him, and if he has a low BABIP then okay, yeah he was very fortunate to put up the results he did.
Idk, it just kills me when I see good hitters put up high BABIP numbers, and people say they’re lucky or due to regress, even though they’re clearly quality hitters…And the same goes for pitchers that purposely pitch to contact, specifically to induce weak contact, yet people call them lucky or say they’re not likely to repeat those same results..
Advanced stats often favor strikeout pitchers…It just is what it is, but let’s at least try to dive into more statistics to get a better picture please people rather than just jumping to conclusions over one flawed statistic.
That’s what we need. More useless statistics.
Can we have a statistic for statistics? What percentage of statistics perform at league average or better rates?
Some people think that 75% of the game is sheer luck, so…
Baseball is just large-scale Plinko to them.
@Ra Indeed. Robots playing Plinko
Law of averages.
Law of averages only applies when all things are constant
No. Or at least no one should. Babip comes into play when the players tendency is broken. Did they hit .280 this particular year when they have only hit .240-ish at all levels prior? That’s Babip explained in the correct way. Or at least a simple version of it. Babip can explain outlier seasons with good luck or bad luck.
I mean he was pretty lousy (19th percentile in 20/21) the two previous seasons when it came to his hard hit rate. He was in the 70th percentile this year.
It’s pretty easy to look at advanced metrics, especially their historical trends, to see whether those AVGs or ERAs are sustainable or partially (sometimes very) lucky. Regression is all but certain with Wacha, otherwise he’d be attached to more teams needing SPs.
Idk, it just kills me when I see good hitters put up high BABIP numbers, and people say they’re lucky or due to regress,
==================================
That’s two separate calculations, and that is the key to BABIP.
1-A one-off high or low BABIP could be a factor of luck, or because the dude just had a particularly good or bad season, or often enough, they were healthy or unhealthy.
2-But whether it was a matter of luck, or any other factors, regression usually sets in. As a RS fan, I checked Yaz. Every season he was 10% above or below his career BABIP was followed by regression. Same with Trout.
Man…I thought the Orioles were going to pounce this offseason. Instead they get Gibson and maybe Wacha. Yeeesh.
Mike Elias is patient and methodical, so while I personally wanted to hit the gas immediately after our surprise 2022 breakout, I’m not too surprised that he wants more data on our young in-house talent before doing anything too crazy, especially so soon after seeing the Tigers jump too early and crash face first into the ground.
King Floch you have been consuming too much of Samuel’s kool-aid. I know it’s syrupy sweet and tangy on the lips, but taking him with a grain of salt will help you keep one foot in reality.
Would I have preferred they be a little more aggressive in free agency? Sure. Splashy moves are fun and exciting.
But the franchise is still in the best place it has ever been in my entire life and the future is blindingly bright, so I’m not going to start freaking out just because they didn’t throw a bunch of money at mostly middling free agents in year one of what should be a very long competitive window.
You seem to have mistaken me for someone who still takes you seriously enough to actually waste time reading your bitter, banal rantings that you obsessively spam every single time you see my screen name like some sort of deranged stalker.
It’s kind of creepy TBH.
I literally told you point blank that I’m not reading your inane ramblings and you reply with another long-winded rant.
Absolutely OBSESSED lol.
You keep showing you know nothing about baseball when you say ridiculously stupid stuff like the Orioles are moving to Nashville.
But we all get that you are just a troll – a little boy who gets his dick hard by saying nasty, offensive things.
I muted that stupid childish tool. He is a troll, nothing more. Everyone should mute him because it just feeds his narcissism to receive replies.
I can disagree with a lot of people and not need to mute them; he is the only one I have ever muted. Until he comes back under a new screen name, but it will be obvious when he does. Nobody else acts in such bad faith on here.
Signing even some known names and putting in the marketing work could have drastically increased ticket sales and would have paid for the new additions. Huge fail. Seems like fanbase was just waiting for that sign to get excited.
I don’t entirely disagree but he seems to be favoring short term commitments right now to keep our options as open as possible for the next few years, which generally rules out big names.
Rodon would be an exciting addition and you can never have too much pitching of that caliber. I just looked at their position players and didn’t see a gaping hole anywhere so nothing their for some value excitement. Like if your outfield was terrible Haniger would have been a yes we filled a big weakness. Or Justin Turner at 3b dh. But yeah the only exciting move that really makes sense is a big time pitcher. Not cheap.
I advocated signing Rodon as far back as July. But with the ask of seven years, even I am getting cold feet. They need a starter though and I would be less disappointed with Wacha than I was with Gibson.
As for position players, they could benefit from Conforto, if he would be willing to sign a pillow contract ~ 1/$12MM.
I really hope that Elias is on the phone with Cleveland, Milwaukee or Miami because this looks like a last place finish next season. Not exactly the message you want to send to Rutschman, Henderson, and Mullins.
thebiggsscreen;
LOL
Seriously, do you have a clue about team building?…..in MLB, not rotisserie league.
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Fly to spring training. Go talk to Rutschman, Henderson, and Mullins on the field and ask how disappointed they are about the 2023 team.
They’ll look at you as if you’re a Rhinoceros in a petting zoo.
The less $$$ on the payroll right now means the more dollars that those 3 guys can get on an extension. I’m sure they understand what Elias is trying to do here.
I’d be fine with one more starter in FA and Austin Hedges to be our backup C.
He could look at the trade market after that if there is some value out there. But let the young guys play.
Just has to make you wonder about the Angelos family hiring Goldman Sachs to assess the value of the team. Honestly, I’ll take 100 losses next season if it means new ownership will be at the helm afterwards.
It’s too bad the O’s have seemingly decided that Rodon is out of their price range, as a true proven ace is the last piece of the puzzle needed for their rebuild. They really have no other glaring need in my opinion, with the amount of talent already on the roster combined with all of the minor league talent that should be debuting next season and beyond.
HBan22;
LOL
Just what they need to completely scuttle their rebuild……
A guy making $35m a year for 6-8 years from a small market team that gets injured part way through and can’t pitch.
Shiny object syndrome, Samuel, SOS.
With our coaches, analytics department, and defense, and Mt. Walltimore out in LF, Wacha has the potential to be a total steal for the Orioles. I’d love to get him on a 2 year deal with a 3rd year team option.
I’ll go one and one. But I am in.
That would also be fine with me. But if the experiment works, I definitely want at least 1 extra year. A pure 1 year deal would be disappointing, IMO.
Why Wacha as opposed to those already off the board
Very good command and control.
Chaim discount store open for business – can’t resign Bogaerts, Wacha, Eovaldi, JDM, and certainly can not extend Devers but he’ll pull a rabbit out the hat by welcoming back Rich Hill for $5.5M as a swingman. Eovaldi maybe going to the Yankees and Wacha to the Orioles. C’mon Chaim don’t you have anything for your friends in TB and Toronto. Maybe Verdugo trade to TB for some 19 – 20 year old Single A prospect infielder that hits lows average but steals a lot of bases when they do get on that’ll make the FARM look marginally better.
The can fail to make the playoffs with them and fail to make playoffs without them.
Nope. All but wacha won 2018 World Series
Nope. All but wacha came within 2 games of World Series
Maybe don’t trade hunter renfroe for JBJ next time
Don’t bother. 10 mil on Gibson. 5-8 mil on wacha maybe…. why not go for Bassitt for a few mil
more? We can eat the third round draft pick. I will never understand this. They don’t need depth. Grayson, Kremer, means, Wells, voth, Watkins, Bradish. That’s 7 right there. Throw in Baumann and Zimmerman if you want. That’s 9. I don’t get it.
It’s not reasonable to expect decent starting pitching from four of those nine; Watkins, Voth, Baumann and Zimmerman are all projectably below average.
And Means first start will be in August, so now we are at four starters plus Gibson. They need at least one more professional starter.
I wanted Bassitt too but Elias has said over and over again that building from within is going to be the key to sustained competitiveness for the Orioles, so it should not really come as a huge surprise that he wasn’t willing to burn a high draft pick on a 34 year old mid rotation starter.
And Wacha is better than the majority of the names you listed as rotation candidates, so while he may not be a huge upgrade, he is still an upgrade.
You’d think a team on the cusp of being really competitive and a miniscule amount of guaranteed contracts on the books would at least make a decent effort to improve their starting pitching. They could’ve gone and got Stripling and Thor to go with their young guys, still had a bottom third payroll, and been a very competitive team. I don’t understand the point of owning a team and doing everything possible to limit their upside.
Maybe their pitching is good. I have no idea. If not they missed out on a lot of affordable guys.
Nope. All but wacha won 2018 World Series
Nope. All but wacha came within 2 games of World Series
Maybe don’t trade hunter renfroe for JBJ next time
The pitching is a question mark with solid upside.
Grayson Rodriguez is the consensus best pitching prospect in baseball and is going to start the year in the rotation.
Kyle Bradish is a guy with solid stuff and upside that Mike Elias really believes in and made a point of trading for after missing out on him in the draft a few years ago, who struggled early in 2022 but looked very good over the final 3 or 4 months.
Dean Kremer most likely overperformed last year but is probably still a solid #4/5 innings eater kind of guy after factoring in some regression, which is fine.
Throw in Gibson and maybe Wacha, and that should give you a fairly high floor rotation overall that will at least keep you in most games.
Wacha and Gibson don’t give any rotation a high floor. Gibson sucked last yr and Wacha just isn’t very good.
It’s easy for us outsiders to say, “They could have signed ____.” But it is rarely that simple. I agree that money talks. But sometimes players want to sign with certain teams because of how competitive they view the team as being, how they fit on the roster and even based on relationships with coaches, players, GMs or even the town itself. Sure, sign Thor and Stripling … but they have to want to sign with you, too. Do we still say sign Thor if it would have taken $20MM to change his mind or 2/$40 for Stripling?
Baltimore definitely has to overpay to get free agents. Most teams do. People like living in NY LA. They like being on teams that will for sure be in the playoffs every year.
I wanted Bassitt too but Elias has said over and over again that building from within is going to be the key to sustained competitiveness for the Orioles, so it should not really come as a huge surprise that he wasn’t willing to burn a high draft pick on a 34 year old mid rotation starter.
And Wacha is better than the majority of the names you listed as rotation candidates, so while he may not be a huge upgrade, he is still an upgrade.
As a draft pick hugger I can’t blame him. Bass isn’t anything special.
A lot of people seem to think non-first round picks are not that valuable and throwing them away is NBD, but we got Gunnar Henderson in the second round and Coby Mayo in the fourth, and those are two guys that are probably going to be major parts of our core over the next half decade.
All about the pool money. Plenty of 1st round talents get drafted in rounds 2 3. I would factor the value of the picks I am losing into the free agent contract. Doesn’t seem many of the winning teams do this.
Joey Ortiz in the 4th…
I would have sacrificed the pick to sign Rodon. But even I was skeptical about signing Bassitt and Eovaldi because of the QOs.
I think Wacha would do well pitching in Camden Yard with the Great Wall of Baltimore to help him out.
They’ve already brought in a veteran righty (Gibson). If the plan is to bring in more back end of rotation help, get a veteran lefty in here. Smyly or even bring back a Wade Miley and see how one of them would fair with the new left field wall dimension?
I’d probably prefer Wacha but Smyly isn’t the worst idea in the world. It’s a shame we couldn’t get Quintana, but outbidding Steve Cohen and the Mets would have required a pretty massive overpay, and Quintana isn’t really a guy you do that for.
I agree on Smyly. He had a good year last season as well.
When healthy, Wacha eats up innings like Pac-Man eats snack pellets. His nickname should be Pac-Man. Wacha Wacha Wacha………..
With Lorenzen off the board and surmising that Rodón won’t be a Pad, I really want Wacha. Or Sonny Gray. Or maybe just sign Wacha and then consider Gray, too.
Gwynning;
What do you think of their other pitchers?
We’re just about good-to-go for ’23… just need that 4/5 spot solidified. Martinez can handle one, but I prefer him in the ‘pen. Maybe Wacha 4, Morejon 5. Or Gray 4? We’ll see.
drew rusinski, one start in 4 seasons, 41 games, and he’s a starter?
Bradish was a rookie last season. In his last 13 starts he had a 3.28 ERA.
Including dominating the Astros twice. He’d better be in the rotation.
No brainer for Baltimore they’d be a perfect fit. I think Wacha’s back on track after last season and one more quality veteran arm added to those young Baltimore pitchers would be a huge help. He looked sharp for Boston he only pitched around 120 innings but was very effective. There’s enough pitching there so none of these guys will have to pitch 200 innings. I love that Baltimore team there’s so many promising young players and more on the way.
Wacha would be a help but I’d rather they get a top of the rotation guy because it improves the entire rotation (old #1 is new #2, old #2 is new #3, etc). Right now they are pinning their hopes on a rookie and a control pitching veteran coming of TJ, plus no regression from the young guys in the rotation last year who had questionable peripherals. And for the bullpen to put up a repeat performance in averaging nearly 4 innings per game. That is a lot of things that have to go right.
If this is liftoff, the offseason right now is sitting low enough for the propellers to be clipping the grass. Still time, but watching other teams fill needs while the Orioles again stand against the wall with their hands in their pockets after a winning season in 2022 is very disappointing. One very good starting arm to anchor the rotation and one good offensive player would have really made an impact.
I wish I could find posts and comments from 2008 when some posters here would be drooling over the possibilities of all the pitchers at AAA. Only one panned out as a starter…after being traded. Back then they were signing Kris Benson and Steve Trachsel and spinning Daniel Cabrera as the Dominican version of Randy Johnson. Also Matt Wieters was supposed to be the next Johnny Bench. You’ll forgive the long time fans who have witnessed the large gap between warehouse hype and on-field results for dozens if not hundreds of home grown prospects since the late 90s.
Those pontificating about “not knowing Elias’ plan” don’t have any more to offer about it than those to whom they are replying. They’re pretty tightlipped in the warehouse.