Kevin Goldstein's Chat 7/7/08

[Stotle]

Well, with his big cannon, and if he has a good enough glove to play at first, then I think third would be worth a shot before RF.

I'd generally agree with this, but you'd probably lose out on ML-time because he'll need to spend more time at AA/AAA to learn the position.

[NCRaven]

Wieters doesn't have the footspeed to be an OF.

Does he run well for a catcher?

Always liked that description.

[Stotle]

Does he run well for a catcher?

Always liked that description.

He runs well for a guy with concrete in his shoes.

[Eight]

Goldstein is not the only one.

Entering the year, BA had

Price at 10 and Wieters as 12.

Davis at 17 and Tillman at 67

Beckham was drafted ahead of Matusz on merit.

That leaves Hellickson v JA - which consensus above gives to Hellickson.

Looks to me like it's the Rays across the board - comfortably so.

I like our prospects just fine, but let's be realistic.

Do you think Davis is likely to be ahead of Tillman now? Tillman has pretty well outperformed him this season in AA, despite being about 2 1/2 years younger. If Davis is still ahead, it's certainly not by 50 spots.

Price is great, but I'm not sure there are any prospects in the minors that should clearly be ranked above Wieters at this point.

[BRob51]

What about moving him to third? Aki Iwamura was moved from Catcher to Third in Japan, Brandon Inge was moved from Catcher to Third. Both are excellent 3B, maybe Wieters could make that jump too. Joe Mauer may be moved to third sometime in the future. If Wieters can't stick at C I think he should be tried at 3B before 1B or OF.

[bej6789]

The only place Wieters moves if he isn't a C is to 1B/DH. I thought about moving him to 3B, maybe. I recently went to a baysox game against Erie.... no way that boy gonna be a 3B . He's a big dude, and while he does "move" well for his size... lets not confuse him with Carl Crawford here, he's slow. Let him stay at catcher until he proves he can't. So far he's looking awful good.

[IamtheSkip]

What about moving him to third? Aki Iwamura was moved from Catcher to Third in Japan, Brandon Inge was moved from Catcher to Third. Both are excellent 3B, maybe Wieters could make that jump too. Joe Mauer may be moved to third sometime in the future. If Wieters can't stick at C I think he should be tried at 3B before 1B or OF.

Wieters has a completely different build than guys like Iwamura and Inge. That's a proposterous idea.

Snyder's the guy they draft at C and thought might go to 3B.