Is Wieters a disappointment?

[Yardball85]

No, NO, and HELL NO, he's not a disappointment! The only disppointment will be not locking him up for another five years before the Yankees lure him away.

Oldfan is back! Welcome back!

I certainly hope he does not go to the Yankees, and no, I would not call him a disappointment.

[AlbionHero]

Knowing the Yankees, they may be crazy and offer him a 15+ million dollar a year contract. I wouldn't pay him close to that. Maybe 11-12 mil a year like Montero got.

[weams]

Wieters came here as the switch-hitting Jesus. We all remember the expectations.

Looking at his career so far, are you disappointed? His career OPS stands at .747.

No. He's great. We can move one.

[HoustonOrioleFan]

Disappointment doesn't have much to do with facts... it has more to do with subjective expectations.

If you expected Matt Wieters to be the greatest catcher the world has ever seen, disappointment is an apt word. If you expected him to be one of the best catchers in baseball and an anchor for a pitching staff that 25 other clubs would kill to have, then "disappointment" is petty and ignorant.

Best quote of the day. A genuine top 5 catcher and 2-time GG winner and we are having this discussion....First at a minimum he's an Oriole #1 pick who made the majors (no small task - see Orioles #1 picks 1986 to about 2002 with the exception of Mussina, Olson and B-Rob)....More importantly he's a bona fide star.

This "the next (insert Hall of Famer" is really unfair to the prospect....There's hundreds of examples, but I was just watching last night's game....Alex Gordon - the next Gorge Brett....No....but he's blossoming into a solid career....

[weams]

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/minorleagues/prospects/y2009/profile.jsp?t=p_top&pid=446308

Defensive superstar might of been exaggerated, but he was projected as a very good defensive catcher too.

This is the key thing though:

He was expected to be a guy who would be competing for MVP awards. He isn't, so he's a disappointment.

His comp was always Jason Varitek.

15 Yrs	1546	5839	5099	664	1307	306	14	193	[b]757[/b]	25	18	614	1216	.256	.341	.435	.776	99	2220	129	61	22	43	59		

[Mayor McCheese]

what did the five fingers say to the face....

Dont mess with matty ice.

[AlbionHero]

His comp was always Jason Varitek.

Among active players, I saw far more comparisons to a switch hitting Mauer with power. A comparison to Varitek would be less than flattering for the #1 prospect in baseball at the time, since that would say his offense lines up exactly where they expected it to be.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=4214226

At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds with power from both sides of the plate, and with every skill but speed, he has been compared to Joe Mauer.

"No, no," said a former catcher who has seen Wieters play, "he is Joe Mauer."

[Can_of_corn]

Among active players, I saw far more comparisons to a switch hitting Mauer with power. A comparison to Varitek would be less than flattering for the #1 prospect in baseball at the time, since that would say his offense lines up exactly where they expected it to be.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=4214226

When drafted the comp was Varitek. Then Matt showed a remarkable ability to demolish A+ and AA pitching. This drastically ramped up expectations.

[OrangeJerseys]

I can only think of one catcher I'd rather have on my team, so no, Matty is far from a disappointment.

[25 Nuggets]

This "the next (insert Hall of Famer" is really unfair to the prospect....There's hundreds of examples, but I was just watching last night's game....Alex Gordon - the next Gorge Brett....No....but he's blossoming into a solid career....

Yep. By the OP's logic, Alex Gordon has been a disappointment. Here are even more names that pop into my mind:

Josh Beckett

Chad Billingsley

Jay Bruce

Clay Buchholz

Tommy Hanson

Jason Heyward

Desmond Jennings

Mark Teixeira

B.J. Upton

Justin Upton

In other words, no I don't believe Wieters has been a disappointment. I think any time I hear phrases like "Switch-Hitting Jesus" or "Mauer with Power" regarding a prospect they sound unreasonable. Same thing with Manny Machado vs. Alex Rodriguez. It's fair to point out their similarities, informative even... but if anyone expects him to turn out like A-Rod (numbers wise), chances are he will disappoint.

[HoustonOrioleFan]

Yep. By the OP's logic, Alex Gordon has been a disappointment. Here are even more names that pop into my mind:

Josh Beckett

Chad Billingsley

Jay Bruce

Clay Buchholz

Tommy Hanson

Jason Heyward

Desmond Jennings

Mark Teixeira

B.J. Upton

Justin Upton

The Upton brothers reminds me of the Drew brothers....especially when JD held out for more money....just made expectations beyond reasonable....

[Tx Oriole]

Wieters came here as the switch-hitting Jesus. We all remember the expectations.

Looking at his career so far, are you disappointed? His career OPS stands at .747.

No not at all.

[Dagger420]

I remember when we drafted him, i saw his swing on scouting tape on MLB.com, and told Babypowder it'd take him 8 years before he was ready to hit in the MLB because of his bat speed.

Through his ascent in the minors, I was laughed at, joked about, mocked...

But I think my scouting report was pretty dead on... The guy has a slow bat. He's got some power behind it, but the wrists are slow. I think he's finally getting strong enough to mitigate that flaw at the MLB-level.

That being said, I think he defensive prowess more than makes up for any short-comings based on his biblical expectations in the hitting dept...

[mdbdotcom]

I'm not disappointed at all. He is one tough hombre. The infield plays like him. He is the backbone of this team, and it's a very tough team to beat.

[Tx Oriole]

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/minorleagues/prospects/y2009/profile.jsp?t=p_top&pid=446308

Defensive superstar might of been exaggerated, but he was projected as a very good defensive catcher too.

This is the key thing though:

He was expected to be a guy who would be competing for MVP awards. He isn't, so he's a disappointment.

Oh brother.