12:48pm: A club source tells Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) that rumors that J.J. Hardy and Wieters are available just part of initial dialogue with teams. The source maintains they aren’t on the trading block or being shopped.
11:19am: The Orioles are willing to trade catcher Matt Wieters, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). An extension is unlikely for the Scott Boras client and the Orioles believe that he is set to hit the open market after the 2015 season, barring a dramatic change in thinking.
Wieters, 27, had a solid season in 2013 (.235/.287/.417 with 22 homers) but it wasn’t quite on the level of his previous two campaigns. Rosenthal suggested over the weekend that the O’s could conceivably move Wieters and target a replacement such as Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the open market. If the Orioles move him now, however, it’ll be selling low on one of the best young catchers in baseball.
