O's Willing to Trade Wieters Via Ken Rosenthal

[Camden_yardbird]

And when Hardy is traded who plays 3rd after Manny moved to SS? Don't tell me

Ryan Flarety. He is just a bench player. I don't think Schoop is ready yet. IMO

I don't know if they move Manny. I think Schoop could be put back there, with a FA filling in for the meantime. I actually think Flahrety is the OD second baseman next year. Not a huge fan of that, but they like him, and it gives you power potential at all three positions.

The one limitation the theory is Schoops defense. The Orioles will always prioritize defense.

All that said, I think Wieters is twice as likely to get moved as Hardy is.

[sportsfan8703]

Schoop put on 20 lbs of muslce before the start of last year. Probably leading to is back injury. But more importantly the club probably had him do that to play 3rd. Not 2nd or SS. I think they really are that high on Flaherty. If you think about it I expect Flaherty to take a big jump next year because it will be his second full season as a real MLB'er and not a Rule 5 guy.

Machado at SS. Flaherty at 3B and 2B. You're not losing too much defense there.

[Mayor McCheese]

Am I the only one that's starting to dislike Wieters for this. That's why you gotta love Adam Jones. He stayed and kind of signed a team friendly deal.

Adam Jones was/is going to be the face of the franchise. The Orioles had no choice but to sign him to an extension. If we did not sign him, I am pretty sure most of the current fan base would lose complete faith in the organization....It was a great deal for both the Orioles and Adam.

Wieters is a totally different story. Theres a reason why Boras is his agent. Boras is going to bring Matt to free agency and meet with all the GM/OWNERS and squeeze the most money out them and someone will pony up. Ex. Werth signing.

[sportsfan8703]

Adam Jones was/is going to be the face of the franchise. The Orioles had no choice but to sign him to an extension. If we did not sign him, I am pretty sure most of the current fan base would lose complete faith in the organization....It was a great deal for both the Orioles and Adam.

Wieters is a totally different story. Theres a reason why Boras is his agent. Boras is going to bring Matt to free agency and meet with all the GM/OWNERS and squeeze the most money out them and someone will pony up. Ex. Werth signing.

This is why you trade him. He's been all about the most money since pre draft. That's why he fell to us. But now we're not talking an extra million or two now we're talking in extra tens of millions. Hopefully some NL team or AL central (basically the NL) wants to give us a haul. Then do it.

[Can_of_corn]

We need to sell teams on Power from SS,C and GG's. Machado's doubles are going to be dingers here real soon. Flaherty and Brob hit 17 HR's from 2nd last year. Plus Schoop has thunder in is bat. Plus whoever we get in the trades and replacement FA's. Maybe Freese comes in the Hardy trade but I like Uribe on a 1-2 deal as a stop gap/insurance until Schoop takes over at 3rd.

Yea, that doesn't actually happen all that often, even with younger players. His fly ball distance this season wasn't something to inspire future dreams of 35 HR seasons.

[sportsfan8703]

Yea, that doesn't actually happen all that often, even with younger players. His fly ball distance this season wasn't something to inspire future dreams of 35 HR seasons.

I would generally agree with that if he were lets say 24-25. He played last year at 20. Players to have 50 doubles in a season 20 or younger. Arod and Machado. Machado could easily hit 20-25 HR's next year. While playing GG defense at SS or 3B. And get outta here with that can he play SS stuff. Nonsense.

[Dark Helmet]

I would generally agree with that if he were lets say 24-25. He played last year at 20. Players to have 50 doubles in a season 20 or younger. Arod and Machado. Machado could easily hit 20-25 HR's next year. While playing GG defense at SS or 3B. And get outta here with that can he play SS stuff. Nonsense.

Yeah and look how Arod got the extra distance on his doubles. A lot of Machados doubles were gappers. Not shots that just missed being a HR. I think Manny will be a player that hits 15-20 HR. I'm more worried about him improving his discipline at the plate.

[waroriole]

Am I the only one that's starting to dislike Wieters for this. That's why you gotta love Adam Jones. He stayed and kind of signed a team friendly deal.

I'll never fault a guy for trying to get paid what he can. I guarantee you there isn't any loyalty on the other side.

That said, I do love Jonesy for his commitment.

[Can_of_corn]

I would generally agree with that if he were lets say 24-25. He played last year at 20. Players to have 50 doubles in a season 20 or younger. Arod and Machado. Machado could easily hit 20-25 HR's next year. While playing GG defense at SS or 3B. And get outta here with that can he play SS stuff. Nonsense.

I stand by my statement.

Aside from the aforementioned flaws in OBP leagues, the one category that may be make or break for Machado is his power. In 2013, that power actually fell a bit. His .148 ISO was a fair bit lower than the .183 mark his posted his rookie year. Of course, that doesn’t mean he can’t get an extra base hit, as he put up an astonishing 51 doubles in 2013. Poster boy for the old “doubles turn into home runs, adage?”

Searching for potential power improvements is an interesting job. His batted ball distance on fly balls was a rather unimpressive 278 feet. Add to that, when looking at where his homers land, and you’d think “man, all he can do is really, really pull the ball” as evidenced by the below figure (data courtesy of ESPN Home Run Tracker).

Machado actually does a very impressive job taking balls in the air (the above plot shows fly balls and line drives) to all parts of the field. He merely lacks to pop to homer beyond his pull side that his fellow youngsters (Trout and Harper, for example) have. There’s still plenty of time for Machado to turn a lot of those deep fly balls (all those doubles?) to center and right into home runs. However, given those batted ball distances and the fact power peaks at 26, that ceiling and window may not be as high and wide as people may think.

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/a-manny-machado-breakout/

[Can_of_corn]

Sassy quote.

Interesting that the interest has waned with the dip in Matt's performance (and the Davis breakout).

[sportsfan8703]

You make very great points. I agree with you. But I don't like to believe in fairy tales and luck, but I gotta go against stats here and say Machado just has that "IT" factor. What if he's that player from the 1st half of the season instead of the 2nd half? Was he just fatigued going through his first full MLB season and playing every day? Machado did seem to go oppo field for doubles and basehits though. I don't think he'll have big time power oppo but once he gets more selective at the plate his HR total will jump.

[Il BuonO]

Schoop put on 20 lbs of muslce before the start of last year. Probably leading to is back injury. But more importantly the club probably had him do that to play 3rd. Not 2nd or SS. I think they really are that high on Flaherty. If you think about it I expect Flaherty to take a big jump next year because it will be his second full season as a real MLB'er and not a Rule 5 guy.

Machado at SS. Flaherty at 3B and 2B. You're not losing too much defense there.

The Orioles would want Schoop to play 3B if they were in agreement with most of the scouting community who saw him play last year in the AFL BEFORE he was injured. The general consensus was he profiles better there.

I think you would be hard pressed to get a better defensive second baseman right now than Flaherty. Before Roberts came back he was actually turning the DP at a higher percentage than Pedroia. If he can hit the Orioles will have a heckuva IF.

Yes, I know how big an "if" that is.

[waroriole]

I don't think it's lack of interest as much as the reality that Boras won't settle for a home team discount. He'll get every dollar he can on the free agent market. You'll probably be hearing a similar line regarding Davis before next April. The O's will have to pay through the teeth to keep him.

All the more reason we should be listening to offers on Davis.

[TonySoprano]

"If we were going to pursue an extension with him, it would be between now and the start of the season," Duquette said. "That's something that we can consider, but having tried twice [each of the past two winters] and not come to a long-term agreement, that's not a priority for us right now."

source - Britt Ghiroli

Combine that quote with this

"If Bud lets them get away with that, they're under the luxury tax," Showalter told USA TODAY Sports. "If they can reset, they can spend again and I guarantee you in two years Matt Wieters is in New York."

source - USA Today

I can easily see Wieters being traded. Management is being quite open with their frustration in working with Wieters and Boras.

[Can_of_corn]

Combine that quote with this

source - USA Today

I can easily see Wieters being traded. Management is being quite open with their frustration in working with Wieters and Boras.

As they should be, Wieters performance this last season took a substantial amount of leverage away.