The Orioles will call up Matt Wieters to make his major league debut on Friday, president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said Tuesday.
The timing of the announcement reveals the spring statements regarding his demotion to be the lies that everyone knew they were. Wieters opened this season in the minors only because the Orioles didn't want him to become a free agent after 2014. By keeping him down until the end of May, they also guaranteed that he wouldn't be super-two arbitration eligible after 2011.
Wieters season to date has been something of a disappointment, if only because of the incredibly high standards he set for himself in 2008. He's hitting .285/.367/.482 for Triple-A Norfolk. That's a 200-point drop in OPS from his .355/.454/.600 line between Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie last season.
The Orioles are calling him up to play regularly, of course. Chad Moeller has been fine as a backup so far, so the team might shop Gregg Zaun over the next few days. If there's no taken for Zaun, then he'll probably slide into a backup role, with Moeller getting designated for assignment.
I had Wieters projected to hit .275/.346/.472 with 14 homers in 309 at-bats this season. I still think that's perfectly realistic. He should be a top-10 catcher for fantasy purposes.
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Should i start Wieters from day one over Mike Napoli?
I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and run off into the hills, or wherever.
Yes start him
Napoli is batting .293 with 6HRs in 123 ABs. If he gets the same 309 ABs that is projected for Wieters, he will outperform him. I would stick with Napoli (or try to get good trade value for him).
The problem is that Napoli is going to share the catcher position with Mathis, because Vladimir Guerrreo.
Should I Drop Sandoval to pick up Wieters??
Just for the record, Wieters is 4-4 today against Bonderman's Toledo
I have Weiters and Russell Martin and no room in my util spot bec I have two 1B (Morneau and Votto). Who should I shop here?
Should I shop Wieters or McCann?
Got Inge already. I can't get a nibble for a C on pace for 40(even if he cools down 30) and 90 RBI and Runs. Got Weiters too. I'm considering keeping Inge at 3rd right now. He, s always hit better as a 3b. Tigers almost ruined a very good athlete my trying to make hima C in the prime of his career. That and the fact that he figured out nthat he doesn't have to "pull" every pitch to left field. What to do with Wetiers? I've got A-Ram out until July. thats; killing me.
oh brother...you've never had inge before have you.
dude...trade him immediately if you can get close to production value plus some for position eligibility. he will derail before the season is done, absolutely positive. the dude hit near mendoza one YEAR...not week, not series, not month...a Fcking year.
napoli will finish with considerably better numbers. he's very quietly sitting on a 25-30 hr season with good peripherals. those weiters projections are, i would argue, optimistic in that there really isnt built in much of a ramping up stage. i know the kids good...but now every single guy has sick stuff, most considerably better than he's ever come close to facing. he'll catch up...but his first time around the league may be painful. i say 350 ABs 12 bombs...likely 275. call the rib/runs a wash. i see that as 4-5 bombs less. close...but with one hiccup, weiters drops significantly, whereas napoli has way less risk of doing so.
napoli is a tough comparison. very little downside with him, fair amount of upside. a quiet run at 30 bombs is in the works.
comes down to if you see weiters jumping right in, and staying there. see, i see at least one hiccup down the stretch. most kids get one. with just half a year, that risk is multiplied in its effect, thus napoli's numbers should beat the Kid by a fair bit.
not next year, but for the remainder of this year...napoli is a very valuable very reliable, very underrated catcher. christ they dH him on his days off...and vladdy's return at this stage doesnt change much.
You should all trade Wieters, I got Roy Halladay for Wieters and Scott Baker. Don't worry if Wieters goes off, he will be the first rookie catcher to hit for power in a long long time, so I will take my chances, sell high.
With playing time the real issue here, the judgment call is how many ABs Napoli will get at DH with Vlad now active. If Vlad's shoulder can't be trusted for throwing, then Vlad will get most of the DH duty, meaning Naopli becomes a platoon C only--and much less attractive than the rookie. But if Vlad an play the field in a month, then it's a tougher call. Regardless, it may already be too late to get any real value in return for Napoli.
I would go with the kid.
You guys are nuts. Napoli is already starting to regress as he is getting exposed by full time ABs. Wieters isnt your normal rookie C, he is 07 Braun 08 Longoria. Give me Wieters over Napoli everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.