Wieters praised again by Keith Law

by SC on Jan 6, 2009 4:46 AM EST in News Comment 20 comments

From the ESPN '09 "watch list":

TOP ROOKIE
Matt Wieters, C, Orioles

Wieters draws comparisons to two players: Joe Mauer and Mark Teixeira, who are two of the top hitters in the American League. Mauer has posted MVP-caliber campaigns in two of the past three years.

Who is Wieters to earn such praise before ever playing a big league game? He's a switch-hitter with quick wrists, power to all fields and a great eye at the plate -- all of which are traits he has in common with Teixeira, who, like Wieters, played at Georgia Tech. And like Mauer, Wieters is a catcher with a plus arm -- he also pitched in relief with the Ramblin' Wreck and would routinely sit at 92-93 mph. He's the best prospect in baseball right now, and should be in the majors this spring, perhaps as early as Opening Day.
-- Keith Law

Sure, it's definitely snowballed into "I'm not telling you anything you don't already know" territory, but it remains super exciting to keep hearing such ridiculous praise heaped upon an Oriole.

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Yup. After Nick, Guts & Adam, Wieters is, before playing an inning, Reason #4 to wach the O's. Heap away!

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Jan 6, 2009 5:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Tom Verducci picked Weiters as one of five things to watch this season. Amazing.

Is this bus gonna crash?

by mystery tramp on Jan 6, 2009 7:09 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ehhh

That was nice until I read the other items on his list:

1. World Baseball Classic - Really??? That’s your #1?
2. Are the Devil Rays for real? - We aren’t going to do this again this season, are we?

"Hey Yankees... you can take your apology and your trophy and shove 'em straight up your ass!" --Tanner Boyle

by BirdFanInPhilly on Jan 6, 2009 9:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I have no idea why those lines are crossed out

Does double hyphen cause that?

"Hey Yankees... you can take your apology and your trophy and shove 'em straight up your ass!" --Tanner Boyle

by BirdFanInPhilly on Jan 6, 2009 9:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

let's see

—this is a test—

by pipkin on Jan 6, 2009 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

seems not?

this is another test—blah blah

by pipkin on Jan 6, 2009 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

only happens when you're doing a numbered list

some kinda weird feature…or bug

—see what i mean?— <<< in this case the double hyphens are converted to emdashes

1. ~~-see what i mean?~~- <<< same deal, but with a number in front = strikethrough

by zknower on Jan 6, 2009 3:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

glitch?

gotta be a glitch

by pipkin on Jan 6, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

LMAO

An unknown oddity in 2006, the WBC is now a legitimate, big-stage international event after what turned out to be a highly successful debut.

What the fuck? What are you smoking?

by zknower on Jan 6, 2009 3:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And I like the WBC

But how could that possibly be the #1 thing anyone is looking forward to?

"Hey Yankees... you can take your apology and your trophy and shove 'em straight up your ass!" --Tanner Boyle

by BirdFanInPhilly on Jan 6, 2009 4:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'll defer to SC

but I always was under the impression the WBA belt was considered more legit, at least for heavweights.

Oh, you mean BASEBALL…..

Duck Around - a progressive blog about the Eastern Shore of Maryland. And getting off my lawn.

by duck on Jan 6, 2009 7:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Matusz-Tillman-Arrieta

The O’s future hinges on these guys panning out. That’s my #1 on the O’s watch list this year.

Markakis (lock him up), Jones, Wieters are definitely nice to have, but MacPhail’s plan sure looks to revolve around those pitchers.

by drj on Jan 6, 2009 10:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yep

This team COULD compete as early as 2010 if the young pitching comes through.

They have Wieters, Markakis, Jones, Guthrie, Scott, and Izturis signed for 2010 for approx $20MM total. I’m assuming they can fill out a bullpen with Ray, Sherrill, Sarfate, Johnson, and others for approx $8MM. They should also be able to fill the DH spot and bench internally or very cheaply for $2M or so.

That leaves 1B, 2B, 3B, and 4 starting pitching spots open. They should be able to fill the three offensive spots and one starting pitching spot with average free agents for a total of ~$45M, bringing the total payroll to around $75MM.

Then it all comes down to the young pitching, which will need to fill the other three rotation spots.

By my back-of-the envelope calculations, that team would win the following number of games depending on how well that young pitching works out:

600 innings of 3.48 ERA = 131 ERA+ => 95 win team
600 innings of 4.12 ERA = 110 ERA+ => 90 win team
600 innings of 4.54 ERA = 100 ERA+ => 87 win team
600 innings of 4.83 ERA = 94 ERA+ => 85 win team
600 innings of 5.64 ERA = 80 ERA+ => 80 win team

by dkdc on Jan 6, 2009 12:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

jesus.

you mean if we can get 600 innings of 5.64 ball, we will actually hit .500 more or less?

what was our 600 inning ERA last year?

by zknower on Jan 6, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

FYI - That's my projection for 2010

So that’s projecting another year of growth from Wieters and Jones, and replacing Walker/Gibbons/Baez dead payroll with useful baseball players.

Last year, non-Guthrie starters pitched 691.1 innings at a 6.03 ERA. Replacing those innings with a league average ERA would’ve pushed the O’s close to .500.

by dkdc on Jan 6, 2009 4:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That is depressing beyond words

and I watched Hostel Part II last night.

Duck Around - a progressive blog about the Eastern Shore of Maryland. And getting off my lawn.

by duck on Jan 6, 2009 7:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

alright O's

do the smart thing, don’t put this kid on the roster opening day.

by UMterp08 on Jan 6, 2009 12:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

More praise for the Big Guy

We hear mostly about his bat, but according to baseball america he’s one of the top fielding catchers in the minors too.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=1835

by nittany lion on Jan 6, 2009 3:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'm happy that the O's drafted Wieters but

OMG I’m sick of hearing all of the effusive praise for him.

by birdman on Jan 6, 2009 4:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It is just rare for us

to have something to praise, so I can forgive the lavishness. In all of this mediocrity we are simply identifying something to be hopeful for. Besides, it sure beats laying around bitching about the last decade.

WHAT ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in WHAT?

by sickuvitall on Jan 6, 2009 11:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs