Wieters is staying with the Orioles for 2016

[clapdiddy]

Does Hardy's 3 years for $49 million ,if they don't do the buyout also hurt the Orioles?

Yes. This was a bad contract when it was signed. Not because of Hardy's play, but he was an injury waiting to happen. Hopefully, he'll be able to avoid the injuries, but history is no friend of his.

[Going Underground]

Gentlemen's agreements happen all the time in baseball. Clearly Boros did what he does best. He gets the most money he can for his client.

I'm just surprised the Orioles would have offered him a QO without some kind of understanding. If they did so without one, they really misread the market because I'm not surprised in the least bit that Wieters took the QO. He would have been dumb not to.

Duquette is a smart guy so perhaps he's got an understanding that he can significantly improve payroll and Wieters' bloated contract won't affect what he still needs to do this offseason. At least I hope so.

Can't the Orioles just backdate two contracts for the 15 million? The Nats did it with Scherzer.Also so Angelos has to take some money out of the MASN profits,no biggie.

[Reboulet'sStache]

What a horrible day.

[DrungoHazewood]

It does not cripple the franchise. It does effectively prevent us from competing this year.

I think that's going way too far. They'd have probably signed another catcher for $3-5M anyway, since Joseph might be good for 100 games and Clevenger is really a DH/1B. This team will always face some odds with their payroll and this division. $10M isn't the difference between 90 wins and 70. It's more like 85 and 83.

[Going Underground]

Isn't it 3/40 with a 14M vesting option and a 2 million buyout?

Crap .you are always right. Hit the 9 instead of the 0.

[Tony-OH]

I'm okay with a good guy who will probably be reasonably productive returning on a one-year deal. I'm not thrilled, but far worse things could happen. I don't think Clevenger is a real catcher, he caught 56 innings for the team last year while playing 20-some at DH/PH. They'd probably have to carry another catcher anyway, as Joseph isn't a guy who is going to catch 130 games. And most of the reason that history isn't kind to 6'5 catchers in their 30s is that there probably haven't been 10 6' 5" catchers in MLB history.

Did someone take over your account Jon? Joseph could easily catch 120 games next year with Clevenger catching the other 42. Together they will provide as much, if not more value than a 30-year old Wieters will produce for a lot less money. The Orioles have to find value in certain positions in order to afford the others where their drafting and development have failed them. They had value in their catchers next year. There is no way the FO is happy Wieters took that QO no matter what anyone says publicly.

[DrungoHazewood]

What a horrible day.

If this is as bad as it gets then we're doing pretty well.

[DrungoHazewood]

Did someone take over your account Jon? Joseph could easily catch 120 games next year with Clevenger catching the other 42. Together they will provide as much, if not more value than a 30-year old Wieters will produce for a lot less money. The Orioles have to find value in certain positions in order to afford the others where their drafting and development have failed them. They had value in their catchers next year. There is no way the FO is happy Wieters took that QO no matter what anyone says publicly.

What's Joseph's career high in games caught? I think it's 94. And a couple years ago when he ramped up after Wieters was hurt he went something like 3-for September. And maybe I'm wrong but I just don't see Clevenger getting 40-50 starts behind the plate.

[Can_of_corn]

Crap .you are always right. Hit the 9 instead of the 0.

I can think of one thing I was wrong about recently.

[SteveO]

The problem with that plan is that all of Wieters value is tied to him being a catcher. He's a below average bat at 1B and almost definitely a below average defender.

Oh I understand that. At this point your stuck with the 15+ million. You have to find some way to use him.

If we lose CD, is there another guy on the market that you would look at as being a vastly superior option to spend on at 1B? Maybe at that point you bring in a guy who can platoon with MW at 1B give MW some time behind the plate at and at DH. Using him this way could allow you to go a little cheap on 1B and use that savings to then upgrade your rotation. Then just hope that MW and whomever your bring in to rotate with him at DH and 1B can produce enough with your upgraded pitching? Reaching at straws here bro. Reality is your spending 15 million now on a resource you already had, not much good news there, just trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

[MDK02]

Well.. I think we have the catcher position taken care of. Now for 1b, corners OF, SP, and RP.

[24fps]

"Significant part of their near-term future"? $15M? I'm mildly concerned on the potential FY16 payroll, but not that much. They just have to get a little more creative. We'll see. Maybe I'm na?ve. Probably. But I'm just not an end of the world kind of guy. They'll figure something out. Or not.

It's not about Wieters' deal, it's about how other potential multi-year deals with other players who might fill an actual need will now no longer be considered. I'm not an end of the world guy either. The Orioles will just do a great deal more of their shopping at the flea market this year than at Macy's. You can sometimes find neat stuff at flea markets.

[Going Underground]

Oh I understand that. At this point your stuck with the 15+ million. You have to find some way to use him.

If we lose CD, is there another guy on the market that you would look at as being a vastly superior option to spend on at 1B? Maybe at that point you bring in a guy who can platoon with MW at 1B give MW some time behind the plate at and at DH. Using him this way could allow you to go a little cheap on 1B and use that savings to then upgrade your rotation. Then just hope that MW and whomever your bring in to rotate with him at DH and 1B can produce enough with your upgraded pitching? Reaching at straws here bro. Reality is your spending 15 million now on a resource you already had, not much good news there, just trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

Would the platoon be Clevenger or Pearce ?

[DrungoHazewood]

Oh I understand that. At this point your stuck with the 15+ million. You have to find some way to use him.

If we lose CD, is there another guy on the market that you would look at as being a vastly superior option to spend on at 1B? Maybe at that point you bring in a guy who can platoon with MW at 1B give MW some time behind the plate at and at DH. Using him this way could allow you to go a little cheap on 1B and use that savings to then upgrade your rotation. Then just hope that MW and whomever your bring in to rotate with him at DH and 1B can produce enough with your upgraded pitching? Reaching at straws here bro. Reality is your spending 15 million now on a resource you already had, not much good news there, just trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

I think the more likely case is that, barring a Davis return, Clevenger gets significant time at 1B/DH while Wieters and Joseph share catching duties.

[Pedro Cerrano]