Wieters is staying with the Orioles for 2016

[mdbdotcom]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wieters said will contact other <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/orioles?src=hash">#orioles</a> free agents "and see if there's anything I can do to help make their decision easier to come back"</p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

">November 13, 2015</a></blockquote>

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[Babypowder]

This is not good news for the Orioles in any shape or form. Take off your fan glasses and if you look at what just happened, you'll see the Orioles just took a huge payroll hit in a place where they didn't necessarily expect it. This will cause ramifications elsewhere this offseason. We just signed a 2 win (at best) catcher for $15 million dollars when we probably could have had those two wins from Joseph and Clevinger for about $13 million less.

The only thing I'm surprised about is that the Orioles didn't have an agreement in place with Wieters to not accept. From the outside looking in, it appears Duquette gambled and lost on this one.

I'm more or less leaning this way too, he wasn't needed and the payroll takes a big hit. If they are intent on keeping payroll at a certain level and there is no wiggle room for 2016, this is especially bad.

[mdbdotcom]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wieters: "I'm already excited about ST now, which I didn't know if it would happen this early in the offseason, so that's a good feeling."</p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

">November 13, 2015</a></blockquote>

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[Aristotelian]

A lot of them are slow, but not all of them.

"Wheels" Wieters has a 75% success rate for his career in stolen bases.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wietema01.shtml

Better than David Lough. Career 59% and only 2 of 6 last year. Fastest guy I have ever seen that cannot steal a base.

[ReclaimTheCrown]

This is not good news for the Orioles in any shape or form. Take off your fan glasses and if you look at what just happened, you'll see the Orioles just took a huge payroll hit in a place where they didn't necessarily expect it. This will cause ramifications elsewhere this offseason. We just signed a 2 win (at best) catcher for $15 million dollars when we probably could have had those two wins from Joseph and Clevinger for about $13 million less.

The only thing I'm surprised about is that the Orioles didn't have an agreement in place with Wieters to not accept. From the outside looking in, it appears Duquette gambled and lost on this one.

I really agree with this take. I think we gambled and lost, and all the lip service to keeping him publicly was just that. This certainly sends us back to the drawing board as we think about how we can allocate money this offseason. I can't imagine we were banking on spending that much at the catcher position. I was looking forward to seeing a lot more CaJo behind the dish, mixed with some Clevenger.

[SteveO]

On the QO:

1) I absolutely still would have offered it. Process not results.

2) I'm very surprised a Boras client accepted. So much for the narrative that Boras is 100% about getting the most career earnings for his guys. It's not unlikely that Wieters is less valuable at this time next year.

3) Wieters is a 2-ish win player being paid for 2-ish wins. So no big deal there.

4) Part of me wanted the draft pick, but part of me says "I like Matt Wieters. He's a good guy. I'm kind of glad he's still on the team, and I hope he does well."

I am kinda shocked he took the QO but with the market tightening up in the past week for C, it makes some sense from his perspective.

Any chance that MW or CJ sees some time at 1B/DH if CD is not back? Even if only in a platoon/part time like role

[24fps]

Well at least it is only one year. Oi vey. Would not have offered the QO.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

No it's not only one year. The ripple effect impacts every other offseason acquisition by completely altering what is possible and what isn't. Money that might have been available for a single big-ticket FA is no longer available. They don't sign for one year only. Flexibility with mid-level FA's has been significantly reduced. Few of them will sign for one year only. The holes in the lineup that existed yesterday still exist today but the primary tool for addressing them has been reduced by 40% if we use the commonly accepted figure of $40 million available budget for 2016. All so the team could gamble on a surplus career 100 OPS+ catcher on the off-chance that we might "win" a player with an extremely small chance of contributing even 3 WAR over the next 6 years.

[TheDirtyBird]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wieters said will contact other <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/orioles?src=hash">#orioles</a> free agents "and see if there's anything I can do to help make their decision easier to come back"</p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

">November 13, 2015</a></blockquote>

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Honestly this is probably the best thing to come out of him taking the QO. I know money talks more than friendships in this business, but if Matt, along with Adam can reach out to the other guys to come back at friendlier deals then HEY you're okay Matt.

I am a bit afraid this has just sealed a crappy offseason.

[DrungoHazewood]

I'm more or less leaning this way too, he wasn't needed and the payroll takes a big hit. If they are intent on keeping payroll at a certain level and there is no wiggle room for 2016, this is especially bad.

Hey, Wieters is already saying he's calling around to make sure everyone comes back at very team-friendly rates because Baltimore is awesome. Or that's how I'm reading it.

[Tony-OH]

I agree with this take wholeheartedly. I think this will cause us to change our offseason plans dramatically.

Yep, I'm surprised and even a little disappointed in the amount of people who actually like that Wieters is returning for $15 million. Joseph was a 2.2 win player and Clevenger was a 0.4. Even if you double Wieters WAR from last season, he hasn't had a season with a WAR above 1.6 since 2012 when he was 26 years old.

He'll be 30 years old next year. History is not kind to 6-5 catchers in their 30s. Unless Angelos is willing to significantly up our payroll, this just changed our offseason plans considerably.

[DrungoHazewood]

All so the team could gamble on a surplus career 100 OPS+ catcher on the off-chance that we might "win" a player with an extremely small chance of contributing even 3 WAR over the next 6 years.

No, it's a pretty reasonable chance of 3 WAR, and a lesser chance of becoming a regular contributor at a higher level. And that's a bet I take every time. I still can't believe Boras let this happen. Surely Wieters could have gotten 3/30 or more on the free agent market.

[jamalshw]

This is not good news for the Orioles in any shape or form. Take off your fan glasses and if you look at what just happened, you'll see the Orioles just took a huge payroll hit in a place where they didn't necessarily expect it. This will cause ramifications elsewhere this offseason. We just signed a 2 win (at best) catcher for $15 million dollars when we probably could have had those two wins from Joseph and Clevinger for about $13 million less.

The only thing I'm surprised about is that the Orioles didn't have an agreement in place with Wieters to not accept. From the outside looking in, it appears Duquette gambled and lost on this one.

Why would anyone agree to not accept? The only time you need that sort of agreement is when it most behooves the player to NOT be offered the QO offer. All such an agreement would do for Wieters/Boras is make it harder for him to find a good multi-year deal as whatever team signs him would have to give up the draft pick. Why would you ever accept that. By accepting that gentleman's agreement you ensure that you'll be handicapped with the draft pick tied to you. If you don't make that agreement, you lower your chance of being offered the QO.

[Going Underground]

No it's not only one year. The ripple effect impacts every other offseason acquisition by completely altering what is possible and what isn't. Money that might have been available for a single big-ticket FA is no longer available. They don't sign for one year only. Flexibility with mid-level FA's has been significantly reduced. Few of them will sign for one year only. The holes in the lineup that existed yesterday still exist today but the primary tool for addressing them has been reduced by 40% if we use the commonly accepted figure of $40 million available budget for 2016. All so the team could gamble on a surplus career 100 OPS+ catcher on the off-chance that we might "win" a player with an extremely small chance of contributing even 3 WAR over the next 6 years.

If a one year deal cripples the franchise then the Orioles are in worse shape then i thought. You can backdate the other contracts for one year.

[Babypowder]

Hey, Wieters is already saying he's calling around to make sure everyone comes back at very team-friendly rates because Baltimore is awesome. Or that's how I'm reading it.

"Sup Crush and Wei Wei, it's Matty, hey how about you guys take a lot less money to come back to Baltimore? We can continue to have our game nights and do Sunday dinners at my place this season!"

That text ought to get things started. How could they resist that?

[24fps]

No, it's a pretty reasonable chance of 3 WAR, and a lesser chance of becoming a regular contributor at a higher level. And that's a bet I take every time. I still can't believe Boras let this happen. Surely Wieters could have gotten 3/30 or more on the free agent market.

History says 2 WAR and he's coming of an injury and entering his decline phase. Proper process begins with never gambling what you can't afford to lose. The Orioles lost big today because they relinquished control of a significant part of their near-term future on a long shot.