A Hypothetical Case for Matt Wieters

[DMVol]

Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette on MLB Radio this morning both think Angels are the best fit for Wieters....and they think he may take a one year deal....the proverbial Scott Boras "pillow deal", try to re-establish your value and try again next year........mentioned the Rockies and Nationals also....but don't think the Nats want to spend the money....

[Angel Oracle]

If Wieters takes a one year deal, wouldn't that remove the chance to add a decent pitcher (starter or reliever)?

Arte isn't going to go right up near a $195 million cap.  Has he ever gone up near it?

[totdprods]

9 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

If Wieters takes a one year deal, wouldn't that remove the chance to add a decent pitcher (starter or reliever)?

Arte isn't going to go right up near a $195 million cap.  Has he ever gone up near it?

We were around $175m pre-Valbuena. The cap is $195m. Guessing Valbuena will be around $5m tops, and Wieters around $11m, there should still be really room for one arm, especially since some decent guys like Cahill, Henderson, and Chamberlain just went for two minor league deals and $1.75m.

Arte went to the very brink of exceeding the tax last year. Wasn't a $195m payroll, but I still firmly believe that isn't an obstacle. Arte has said as much.

[Troll Daddy]

Going over the lux cap now isn't a huge deal. Plenty of time throughout the season to shed payroll.

[totdprods]

2 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Going over the lux cap now isn't a huge deal. Plenty of time throughout the season to shed payroll.

Yup, especially since half of the 25-man would be in their walk year. None of the arms out there are worth over-paying for, and you can argue that there's not much differentiation between any of them to really move the needle for the team's chances, so wait it out and get any of them when their price tag is at its lowest.

[John Smith]

Matt Wieters - C - Orioles

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post was told by a source that the Nationals "have never been particularly high on" Matt Wieters.

Janes adds that the Nats "harbor concerns about (Wieters') defense and his health." The two sides have been connected this offseason because Washington could potentially use catcher help and Wieters' agent, Scott Boras, is known to have a good relationship with the Nationals. However, it doesn't sound like there's a fit here unless the market for Wieters really bottoms out. That's certainly possible given the lack of apparent options he has at this point.

Related: Nationals

 

Source: Washington Post

Jan 22 - 10:40 AM

http://www.rotoworld.com/playernews/mlb/baseball-player-news

[Chuck]

With Atlanta, Washington out and the Rockies already having two good young catchers, I can see the Angels having the advantage here.

I hope it works out. 

[totdprods]

Secondary to this is the fact Eppler is creating about as much tradeable surplus as he possibly can. A Wieters signing gives us ample depth in the catching department and the Valbuena signing gave us ample depth in the infielders department. If any of his lotto ticket arms show anything, we will have tradeable SP depth too.

It's not much, but it's more than we've had in recent years to work with. If we played ourselves into a position where we had to deal away prospects at the deadline as 'buyers', guys like Marte, Cron, Perez, Thaiss, Cowart, Ward, Fletcher, Johnson, or some SP depth could go and it wouldn't be quite as painful as it would have been a year ago. Makes it that much easier to deflect orgs away from asking about Jones in talks. 

[tdawg87]

8 hours ago, totdprods said:

Secondary to this is the fact Eppler is creating about as much tradeable surplus as he possibly can. A Wieters signing gives us ample depth in the catching department and the Valbuena signing gave us ample depth in the infielders department. If any of his lotto ticket arms show anything, we will have tradeable SP depth too.

It's not much, but it's more than we've had in recent years to work with. If we played ourselves into a position where we had to deal away prospects at the deadline as 'buyers', guys like Marte, Cron, Perez, Thaiss, Cowart, Ward, Fletcher, Johnson, or some SP depth could go and it wouldn't be quite as painful as it would have been a year ago. Makes it that much easier to deflect orgs away from asking about Jones in talks. 

Thaiss is on the same level as Jones. He shouldn't be considered a tradeable piece right now, in my opinion.

Also it seems like you really want to get rid of Marte for some reason. He's a very good bat off the bench, at the very least. I'd rather keep him, personally.

[ettin]

8 hours ago, totdprods said:

Secondary to this is the fact Eppler is creating about as much tradeable surplus as he possibly can. A Wieters signing gives us ample depth in the catching department and the Valbuena signing gave us ample depth in the infielders department. If any of his lotto ticket arms show anything, we will have tradeable SP depth too.

It's not much, but it's more than we've had in recent years to work with. If we played ourselves into a position where we had to deal away prospects at the deadline as 'buyers', guys like Marte, Cron, Perez, Thaiss, Cowart, Ward, Fletcher, Johnson, or some SP depth could go and it wouldn't be quite as painful as it would have been a year ago. Makes it that much easier to deflect orgs away from asking about Jones in talks. 

 

22 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Thaiss is on the same level as Jones. He shouldn't be considered a tradeable piece right now, in my opinion.

Also it seems like you really want to get rid of Marte for some reason. He's a very good bat off the bench, at the very least. I'd rather keep him, personally.

Have to agree with tdawg here, Thaiss fits into a hitting philosophy the Angels are attached too and they approached his positional development with such specificity that unless he totally busts out as a prospect they are on target for him to arrive sometime next season.

[totdprods]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Thaiss is on the same level as Jones. He shouldn't be considered a tradeable piece right now, in my opinion.

Also it seems like you really want to get rid of Marte for some reason. He's a very good bat off the bench, at the very least. I'd rather keep him, personally.

I've been one of Marte's biggest fans since the start. He'd be my starting 3B in 2018 as it stands right now if I were running things, but I'm also not going to ignore whatever trade value he may have. We have no idea what things will look like come July '17 - who will be available, where the team will be, what any of these guys will be doing on the field. In a world of hypotheticals on a message board, I'm not going to make Marte untouchable.

Just pointing out that all the moves Eppler is making, he is giving himself more room to entertain offers involving those guys now should the need arise, and had he not signed Valbuena (or Wieters in this hypothetical) he would likely have had been limited to turning everything down or having only our prime prospects to work with if we wind up in a situation where we could become 'buyers'. Depth works to our advantage in many ways. I wouldn't want to trade Thaiss either, but if Eppler actually does wind up signing Wieters as well, between Pujols, Cron, Marte, Wieters, and Valbuena we have significantly more 1B/DH coverage in the near-term to where a Thaiss trade wouldn't kill us. Doesn't matter if he winds up trading him or not - it's simply the fact he has that depth to rely on now when negotiating that makes this all a big plus. Offers coming in that default to Thaiss or Cron or Marte don't have to be automatically ruled out now because of their importance to the immediate future.

If I was GM, I wouldn't really be inclined to move anyone for another year. I'd just roll with what we have and sell off as many vet pieces as possible throughout the year. I'm 'rebuilding' one more year, but I feel really good with the way this team is built right now. 

[totdprods]

2 hours ago, ettin said:

 

Have to agree with tdawg here, Thaiss fits into a hitting philosophy the Angels are attached too and they approached his positional development with such specificity that unless he totally busts out as a prospect they are on target for him to arrive sometime next season.

I'm in no way advocating trading Thaiss, just stating that these moves give Eppler some wiggle room in whatever moves he has in mind down the line. The org can survive a trade involving Thaiss (or any of those I named) tomorrow (if it happened) easier than it could have last week, especially if Wieters is signed. 

[Troll Daddy]

7 hours ago, totdprods said:

I've been one of Marte's biggest fans since the start. He'd be my starting 3B in 2018 as it stands right now if I were running things, but I'm also not going to ignore whatever trade value he may have. We have no idea what things will look like come July '17 - who will be available, where the team will be, what any of these guys will be doing on the field. In a world of hypotheticals on a message board, I'm not going to make Marte untouchable.

Just pointing out that all the moves Eppler is making, he is giving himself more room to entertain offers involving those guys now should the need arise, and had he not signed Valbuena (or Wieters in this hypothetical) he would likely have had been limited to turning everything down or having only our prime prospects to work with if we wind up in a situation where we could become 'buyers'. Depth works to our advantage in many ways. I wouldn't want to trade Thaiss either, but if Eppler actually does wind up signing Wieters as well, between Pujols, Cron, Marte, Wieters, and Valbuena we have significantly more 1B/DH coverage in the near-term to where a Thaiss trade wouldn't kill us. Doesn't matter if he winds up trading him or not - it's simply the fact he has that depth to rely on now when negotiating that makes this all a big plus. Offers coming in that default to Thaiss or Cron or Marte don't have to be automatically ruled out now because of their importance to the immediate future.

If I was GM, I wouldn't really be inclined to move anyone for another year. I'd just roll with what we have and sell off as many vet pieces as possible throughout the year. I'm 'rebuilding' one more year, but I feel really good with the way this team is built right now. 

i always enjoy what you have to say but you seem to believe the team in a rebuilding mode. You must be referring to the farm. It's my belief the team is in a win now mode. 

Obviously, if it's not happening by the trade deadline they will be sellers. 

What differences do you see between the current team and the 2014 team? 

[Stradling]

Psst, they are both happening simultaneously 

[totdprods]

31 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

i always enjoy what you have to say but you seem to believe the team in a rebuilding mode. You must be referring to the farm. It's my belief the team is in a win now mode. 

Obviously, if it's not happening by the trade deadline they will be sellers. 

What differences do you see between the current team and the 2014 team? 

Por que no los dos? They're in 'win now' mode and they're rebuilding. Baseball is the flukiest damn sport. Our core players, year in and year out, are an 80 win team I believe. We've been that way since 2002 to be honest. Few teams have been so consistent for so long and that aspect is really under appreciated on this board. Even in the disastrous last few seasons, we've been pretty good in a couple of them. Our core is young and there are plenty of players on both sides of the ball to lean on.

Where we've gotten screwed is the players on the fringe (or suffering injury to our core, which happens to everyone) who should be making the difference and winning us the extra 10-15 games to get to the playoffs. That's a result of no farm and no attempt to sign these fringe players. Instead we're watching these players cost us wins and haven't been doing squat to fix it until Eppler recognized it.

[totdprods]

One year deals/commitments are throwaway contracts in the baseball world. The amount of money there is so minimal at that point that any team can take that risk. All of Eppler's moves like this are being done to boost our win now chances, but to also build up easily tradeable depth. We haven't had tradeable depth because we've had no farm and all we've had is our core, which we need.

I wouldn't deal Thaiss, or Marte, or Jones or etc., but we all thought Newcomb was untouchable too and Eppler dealt him, our most untouchable player, practically within hours of taking over.

The point I'm trying to make is I'm very happy and confident with Eppler and his vision, eye for talent evaluation, and course for the team so far. If he signs Valbuena and Wieters, he has the depth to trade Thaiss without it being a big blow. If that were to happen, I'd feel comfortable in Eppler's evaluation that it was a few worth making, and at least I'd have some comfort knowing we have more than enough options at 1B/DH for now.

[Troll Daddy]

Agent Scott Boras predicted earlier this winter that Matt Wieters would be a January signee, but the clock is running out even on that rather cautious timeline, FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes in his latest notes column. The Nationals and Angels remain the two likeliest landing spots, Heyman adds, though the Washington Post and other D.C. media outlets have continually downplayed the possibility. Boras is said to have recently met with the Angels, he also reports, and the Halos do indeed seem like an on-paper fit with Martin Maldonado penciled in as the presumptive starter at this time.

traderumors

[DMVol]

52 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Agent Scott Boras predicted earlier this winter that Matt Wieters would be a January signee, but the clock is running out even on that rather cautious timeline, FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes in his latest notes column. The Nationals and Angels remain the two likeliest landing spots, Heyman adds, though the Washington Post and other D.C. media outlets have continually downplayed the possibility. Boras is said to have recently met with the Angels, he also reports, and the Halos do indeed seem like an on-paper fit with Martin Maldonado penciled in as the presumptive starter at this time.

traderumors

Didn't think it would happen but I think we may actually sign him.....if it's a one or two year deal, hard to turn that down....and with Grateral now gone, Perez becomes depth, which is where he probably should be....

[Docwaukee]

I want them to sign Wieters so MS can call him Weets in the post game presser.  

[Angel Oracle]

Boras has 21 days until ST starts.

You might want to get a deal with somebody worked out.

[Dtwncbad]

13 hours ago, Dochalo said:

I want them to sign Wieters so MS can call him Weets in the post game presser.  

I think he will call him "Weetsy".

"Weetsy called a good game today, and Troutsy did his thing of course, and Simsy made two great plays.  Skaggsy didn't have his best stuff, but Maybsy picked him up good with that catch in left.  Cronsy should be back tomorrow."

 

[John Smith]

• Jeff Fletcher Verified account ‏@JeffFletcherOCR

  Eppler wouldn't say if the #Angels are pursuing any other FAs (like Wieters), but said he's always looking to improve the club.

Bill Shaikin Verified account ‏@BillShaikin

Eppler wouldn't say if he is in any discussions with free-agent catchers. Matt Wieters is available.

 

Significant that there no denials

[Jeff Fletcher]

4 hours ago, John Smith said:

• Jeff Fletcher Verified account ‏@JeffFletcherOCR

  Eppler wouldn't say if the #Angels are pursuing any other FAs (like Wieters), but said he's always looking to improve the club.

Bill Shaikin Verified account ‏@BillShaikin

Eppler wouldn't say if he is in any discussions with free-agent catchers. Matt Wieters is available.

 

Significant that there no denials

No it's not. Eppler never denies anything publicly. 

We have a joke, in fact, where I ask him if he's going to trade Mike Trout because it's the only thing he will ever say definitively either way. 

[UndertheHalo]

10 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

No it's not. Eppler never denies anything publicly. 

We have a joke, in fact, where I ask him if he's going to trade Mike Trout because it's the only thing he will ever say definitively either way. 

Dang, Fletcher always keeping it real.  

[totdprods]

Eppler is perhaps the quietest GM out there. He never really gives anything of substance out to the press, even when something is pending. There's nary a blip from outside/unconfirmed sources before any signing usually as well.