Is Wieters a disappointment?

[AlbionHero]

I'm not being "picky" nor am I "complaining" about your use of terms. Barely implies that he's just eking over the threshold. It has been the bottom line for his career. Words have meanings.

Take out the rookie season, since pitchers learned how to pitch him better after that and he never fully adjusted, and he's a .252 hitter. Falls right in line with my statement.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Take out the rookie season, since pitchers learned how to pitch him better after that and he never fully adjusted, and he's a .252 hitter. Falls right in line with my statement.

So you're statements true when you throw out select numbers, got it.

[AlbionHero]

So you're statements true when you throw out select numbers, got it.

Yes, since he's proven that the rookie season was an outlier and not the type of player he is. If you want to argue he's still nearly a .290 caliber hitter, fine, but I don't see him ever coming close to that again now that people know how to pitch him.

[Il BuonO]

Again, what's this barely hitting .250 stuff? He's had lines of .288, .249, .262, and .249 in his major league career. .250 is on the low end. As the old saying goes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts.

Semantics. He's a .259 hitter for his career who averages 21 HR, while putting up a .746 OPS. For what he provides defensively I'm perfectly content to have him right where Buck has him in the order right now.

[Can_of_corn]

Yes, since he's proven that the rookie season was an outlier and not the type of player he is. If you want to argue he's still nearly a .290 caliber hitter, fine, but I don't see him ever coming close to that again now that people know how to pitch him.

And it goes without saying that Batting Average is the best way to judge a hitter.

[Il BuonO]

And it goes without saying that Batting Average is the best way to judge a hitter.

Right, because if he was only a .220 hitter but had .550 slugging percentage it still wouldn't be good enough.

[AlbionHero]

And it goes without saying that Batting Average is the best way to judge a hitter.

Its obviously not the only thing, I just brought up batting average since its the thing I felt he was lacking most from what I expected of him. From the videos I saw of him both in college and the minors, he looked like a pure hitter with a really sweet swing that would turn into lots of base hits, but that never materialized.

[orioles942]

Defensively he is way better than anyone expected and great calling games. Offensively, he is about a .250 hitter 20+ HR bat and streaky, so offensively he is what he is disappointing, but combine that with his defense he is a not disappointing at all. Just got what we didn't expect.

[justcompete]

There was absolutely hype. Not #1 hype but go back and look at the draft. Look at ESPNs, BA, etcs, comments. Look at his #1 prospect status the following year.

[Can_of_corn]

There was absolutely hype. Not #1 hype but go back and look at the draft. Look at ESPNs, BA, etcs, comments. Look at his #1 prospect status the following year.

His status the following year is irrelevant to the aspect of the discussion I was having. His comp at draft time was Varitek. He was expected to be an All Star caliber player, not a HoF threat.

[pdiddy]

Someone else can run the numbers but I bet Matt is doing pretty good compared to other kids that have gone #4 in the draft. There wasn't Strasburg or Harper hype surrounding him, just the normal "once in a generation" hype from his agent.

I don't know, this is a lot of hype. Mauer with Power didn't come out of nowhere. I love me some MW, but bat-wise it would look better if Posey hadn't come a year later.

The upside is that I think he'll be easier to sign, and I want that to happen.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/draft/rankings/?rank=draft&year=2007

[Can_of_corn]

I don't know, this is a lot of hype. Mauer with Power didn't come out of nowhere. I love me some MW, but bat-wise it would look better if Posey hadn't come a year later.

The upside is that I think he'll be easier to sign, and I want that to happen.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/draft/rankings/?rank=draft&year=2007

The fact that they had him at #2 means they didn't see him as Mauer with Power. Mauer without Power is a lot more valuable then David Price.

[weams]

The fact that they had him at #2 means they didn't see him as Mauer with Power. Mauer without Power is a lot more valuable then David Price.

Especially this year's David Price.

[tntoriole]

His status the following year is irrelevant to the aspect of the discussion I was having. His comp at draft time was Varitek. He was expected to be an All Star caliber player, not a HoF threat.

I agree with this. Hype has nothing to do with ultimate value. Matt is also still only 26 years old. Best defensive catcher, solid contributor at the plate, reliability from day to day, tough, tough, tough competitor. Given the number one picks who have fallen off the earth (both for Orioles and other teams), I am thankful that Matt is just Matt. If I were a GM, just give me 9 straight number one picks that turn out like Matt and I will be winning a lot of World Series games.

[Can_of_corn]

Especially this year's David Price.

His velocity still down?

Kinda disappointed he isn't doing as well. I wanted to see the Rays try and rationalize trading away a top 5 pitcher.