We are coming up on the end of the
year and most of the big-name free agents have inked new deals. As the rumors continue to swirl, most of the
remaining top targets fall into the same general market of right-handed
power-hitters that either fit at first base, corner outfield, or designated
hitter. Everyone seems to be talking about
Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo, and Jose Bautista and the potential domino
effect into names like Mike Napoli, Chris Carter, and the rest of the market
below. There is one all-star that the
rumor wheel has been rather quiet about.
Matt Wieters was one of the first
players to accept a qualifying offer after last season and came back from Tommy
John surgery with a season that garnered him a fourth all-star selection. He was not eligible for another qualifying
offer and therefore is not tied to a draft pick, but there really are not many
teams looking for a primary catcher. The
Blue Jays, Cardinals, Dodgers, Giants, Indians, Pirates, Rangers, and Royals
all have stud veteran catchers in place.
The Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Phillies, Red Sox, and Yankees all have
talented young catchers that are expected and long-term fixtures behind the
plate.
Even though the rumors about
Wieters have been minimal, there have been quite a few teams that have already
made moves for catchers. Wilson Ramos
was the top catching target after having a career year that landed him a 2-year
deal with Tampa Bay despite recovering from a torn ACL that may prevent him
from being available on Opening Day.
After losing Ramos, the Nationals traded for Derek Norris from the
Padres. Wieters’s former team, the
Orioles, just signed Welington Castillo to be their starter instead of
continuing with Wieters for a 9th consecutive year. The Astros landed Brian McCann in free agency
and traded Jason Castro to be the starter in Minnesota. The Brewers and Angels also completed a trade
this week to swap Martin Maldonado, the new projected starter in Los Angeles,
and Jett Bandy, who will split time with Andrew Susac in Milwaukee. After removing those teams, although the
Angels/Brewers deal may not preclude them from moving on Wieters, there are
only nine remaining landing spots for the former Oriole backstop.
The White Sox may be the team with
the biggest need a catcher. Their
current situation is a platoon between Omar Narvaez and Kevan Smith. Those two only combined for only 117 at-bats
last season with the bulk of the workload going to Alex Avila and Dioner
Navarro, who are both currently free agents.
However, the White Sox have been selling off all of their high-priced
players and rebuilding their farm system this offseason, so they would be less
likely to spend the money on Wieters.
The Tigers could be the best
fit. They have James McCann, who has
proven to be a top defender that the positon.
However, McCann has been significantly better against left-handed
pitching in his career. The
switch-hitting Wieters has put up fairly balanced splits in his career. He has tended better against lefties in his
career, but was better against right-handers last season and the two previous
that we shortened by his elbow surgery.
The Tigers have been in talks to move some of their high-priced talent,
but still have a strong offense in place and could still be looking to win in
2017.
The Rockies have been making moves
and rumored to have more on the horizon.
They brought in Ian Desmond and have been rumored to be in talks with Encarnacion
and Trumbo. The front office has
announced that they are comfortable with the platoon they have in place with
Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy, but if they are looking to make a run in 2017, the
addition of a switch-hitting catcher with pop from both sides of the plate
could be a significant upgrade.
The Cubs and Diamondbacks both have
interesting situations at catcher. The
Cubs have young phenom Willson Contreras projected as the starter. However, Contreras is lacking in defensive ability
and can also be used at first base and in the outfield. Wieters is a strong defender that could
solidify the catching position, but he also has a high price tag for part-time
catcher. The Diamondbacks will likely go
with a platoon between Chris Herrmann and Jeff Mathis. Herrmann is similar to Contreras in that he
can also play the corners on the infield and in the outfield. This situation could be one to carry three
catchers with Herrmann’s utility, but again, the price for Wieters is high to
be splitting time three ways.
The remaining teams would all get
an improvement at catcher with the acquisition of Wieters, but are less likely
to really be potential suitors. Atlanta,
Cincinnati, Oakland, and San Diego are all in the process of rebuilding. Wieters and his high price tag would be
unlikely to be paid as an upgrade over Tyler Flowers and Anthony Recker in
Atlanta or the platoon of Bruce Maxwell and Josh Phegley in Oakland. Cincinnati still has Devin Mesoraco, but his
health has been inconsistent throughout his career. San Diego has top prospect Austin Hedges that
could use a veteran presence around him, but they may not want to pay for
Wieters to be his tutor.
Wieters has been a fixture as the
backstop in Baltimore for his entire career.
He made his 4th all-star roster in 2016, which is tied with
Russell Martin, Salvador Perez, and Buster Posey and is only behind Brian
McCann and Yadier Molina (each with 7) among active catchers. He has a well-rounded set of tools and can be
the everyday catcher wherever he ends up.
NOTE: As I was writing this
article, there were rumors beginning to swirl that Wieters was likely to sign
with the Nationals. He would be an
upgrade despite their previous acquisition of Derek Norris.
