Jones getting extension possibly???

[Stotle]

Wieters isn't a free agent until after the 2014 season. We have plenty of time.

That said, I'd get something done this offseason if I were the Birds!

This is the wrong way to think. Again, Baltimore needs to sign players to team friendly deals -- that's not happening when someone is 15 months from free agency.

[weams]

Was told that Jones extension was a Dan Duquette priority. His late signing as GM prevented him from accomplishing this during the off season as he would have prefered.

[crawjo]

Wieters isn't a free agent until after the 2014 season. We have plenty of time.

That said, I'd get something done this offseason if I were the Birds!

According to Baseball-Reference.com, Wieters isn't a free agent until after the 2015 season. We have plenty of time there.

The reported Jones deal seems a tad high to me (earlier I posted I would not give him more than $80 million) but given the possibility for a huge overreaction that could have netted 7 or 8 years at $100 million per, I'm somewhat relieved if it's "just" 6/85.

[Brendan25]

Was told that Jones extension was a Dan Duquette priority. His late signing as GM prevented him from accomplishing this during the off season as he would have prefered.

Does DD feel the same about Wieters?

[weams]

Does DD feel the same about Wieters?

No information nor did I ask.

[Dipper9]

This is the wrong way to think. Again, Baltimore needs to sign players to team friendly deals -- that's not happening when someone is 15 months from free agency.

This offseason would be 2 years from free agency!

[RenegadeOsFan]

This is the wrong way to think. Again, Baltimore needs to sign players to team friendly deals -- that's not happening when someone is 15 months from free agency.

Very true, but with Wieters, he is a Boras client, how much of an impact will this cause? Will he even be willing to accept an extension?

[EddieEddie]

The problem with Wieters is he's Boras. That guy is gonna hang us over the balcony by our ankles until he gets every last penny he can.

[Dipper9]

This offseason would be 2 years from free agency!

Or THREE years according to Crawjo. Absolutely NO need to worry about Wieters right now.

[O'sSkinsfan]

Happy to hear about an extension with AJ coming soon..About time we lock our good young players up long term.

[Stotle]

This offseason would be 2 years from free agency!

Oh, okay. If the "plenty of time" was just indicating wait until October to start talks, that's cool. I read it as potentially waiting longer.

[Stotle]

Or THREE years according to Crawjo. Absolutely NO need to worry about Wieters right now.

No, he should be extended ASAP.

[clapdiddy]

Wrong. We have him for 3 more years after this season.

I think this would be the best offseason to extend Wieters. See if you can do a 5 year extension in the 50M range.

[Stotle]

Agreed that the players are cheaper when signed earlier. It's not always team friendly. Are we seeing Wieters as a catcher 5 years down the road because a lot of his value is tied to defense at the catching position?

I think you can view him as a catcher for three years + two FA years, sure. If you are a believer in the bat, his value splitting time at dh/c/1b should more than merit the contract he's "worth" this out from FA. Now, if he's not interested in signing, or Boras is advising him not to, there's nothing Baltimore can do.

[kyleott]

This is the wrong way to think. Again, Baltimore needs to sign players to team friendly deals -- that's not happening when someone is 15 months from free agency.

Is it not a bit different when dealing with catchers? Their primes aren't exactly uniform (as we have seen with Mauer), and we would be taking a bigger risk in giving him 6-7 years a year and a half from now, as it would extend to the 2020 season most likely, and as is the M.O. with taller catchers, he very possibly will be a much less valuable player then with his highly likely physical regression.

Instead, I think it would be a pretty good idea to work out an extension sooner, so that we are ensuring that the years we are getting from him are his most productive, and consequently avoiding having his contract hurt us later down the road.

EDIT: Seems I was beat the punch, but I still hold this position.