Matt Wieters’ poor ratings in terms of pitch-framing are weighing down his market, writes ESPN’s Buster Olney (ESPN Insider required). Olney spoke to multiple evaluators who believe that Wieters’ defense declined in 2016, and as he notes, a number of executives around the game are placing a greater emphasis on framing, which is perhaps why Jason Castro just landed a three-year deal despite poor offensive production dating back to the 2014 season. Per Olney, while both the Twins and Rays are interested in Castro, it’s not clear that either has any interest in Wieters. Olney lists the Orioles and Nationals as potential landing spots for Wieters and also adds that the Braves have expressed some interest, “but probably for far less than what [agent Scott Boras] wants.” Also worth a brief mention with regard to Wieters: Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports that he suffered a laceration to his non-throwing arm in a household mishap this offseason. The wound required stitches, and Wieters is wearing a protective shield for the time being, but he’s expected to be able to resume baseball activities in January. The injury shouldn’t see any delay in his readiness for Spring Training.
More on the free-agent market…
- Executives with interested teams are beginning to get the sense that Carlos Beltran’s market is coming down to the Yankees, Astros and Red Sox, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Rangers, too, could be “lurking” in the background and contemplating a more earnest attempt to retain him, although WEEI’s Rob Braford reported that Texas wasn’t in the running as of last week. Though he turns 40 next April, Beltran obviously enjoyed a strong 2016 season split between the Yankees and Rangers. The Yankees and Red Sox have the clearest paths to playing time for him, from my vantage point, as the Astros also have Evan Gattis on a guaranteed $5.2MM salary to spend a considerable amount of time at DH. However, if the Astros are comfortable deploying Gattis more sparingly or giving Beltran some time in the outfield, the fit could still work. And, of course, it’s never bad to have significant significant depth options.
- The Marlins are still in the mix to retain left-hander Mike Dunn, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, but the recent four-year, $30.5MM contract that the Cardinals gave to Brett Cecil may have skewed the market for left-handed relief help. Dunn’s representatives could push for an annual value north of $5MM, which may be more than Miami was hoping to spend. Like Cecil, Dunn has had some success against right-handed hitters in his career and may not be deployed as a pure lefty specialist by the team that ultimately signs him. However, Dunn is 14 months older than Cecil and also battled a forearm strain this season. Beyond that, he simply hasn’t been as good as Cecil in recent years; Cecil owned a 2.90 ERA with 11.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate from 2013-16. Dunn, meanwhile, had a 3.38 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 35.4 percent ground-ball rate in that same time.
- Former Indians right-hander Justin Masterson said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today that his agent, Randy Rowley, is talking with a few teams as he looks for a landing spot (Twitter link). “It’s looking for a situation that will fit,” said Masterson. “I feel healthy. I feel strong.” Masterson spent most of the 2016 season with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate and didn’t perform particularly well, pitching to a 4.97 ERA with a 32-to-26 K/BB ratio in 54 1/3 innings. While he’s still young enough for a rebound (32 in March), Masterson hasn’t delivered above-average results since his All-Star 2013 season with Cleveland. In the interim, he’s been sidelined by myriad knee and shoulder injuries.
Beltran historically plays best during a contract year, and at his age, he’s running out of those. The Yanks and Red Sox would be foolish to go after Beltran . Might as well get Napoli on a short term deal, and at least he can use the glove as well.
Unless he signs a 1 year deal.
One year at 16m is ok for Beltran!! Plus he will help the players like Moncada
No way EE is brings the consistency Boston needs to replace Ortiz
EE is the only one
Too much years and $$$
I agree. I feel like he will perform closer to his 2014 & 2015 numbers. I’m thinking 16/65-ish. I can’t see him being abysmal, but I don’t think he’s worth the 18 million or so I’m assuming will be invested in him. l don’t know if Napoli’s the guy either. Justin Turner wouldn’t be a bad guy to have. Great defense and a good bat, and that solves the concerns at third base. Who knows, maybe Sandoval comes out of the shadows and performs better as a full time DH.
Justin Turner has only had a good year and a half of solid baseball. And his .339 obp and .493 slugging percentage as a 3b isn’t eye popping. Beltran on a 1 year contract is a no brainer compared to a Turner who will most likely demand 5 years. Plus the sox don’t need the likes of Turner taking up a 25 man spot for the next 4-5 years. They have young exciting talent coming up in the infield and with the help of a 1-2 year vet or a player who can platoon they’ll be fine.
Not to be that guy, but I think you meant to say ‘if the Astros are comfortable deploying Gattis more sparingly…’
Typo after ” if the Yankees deploy gattis ” don’t you mean astros because he’s on them.
I can see the Os offering Wieters 1 year 8 mil. Or 2 years for 15. A take it or leave it deal. But with the Chris Davis deal, they might offer 80 million for 6 years, with most of the money spread out over 30 years.
If price goes to high on Beltran I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Yankees swing a trade for Jay bruce
I dont believe he gets more than 2/$30mil
Yanks would have plenty to afford him.
No way on Bruce, he has a negative WAR in both projected offense and defense.
I think the Yankees have their eyes on a bigger fish than Bruce/Beltran, namely Cespedes!
This framing nonsense, when did this become so stylish?
Also, I can’t see the Nationals signing Wieters unless they do it for spite.
Although, I could see the Braves signing Wieters, I really could and surprising everybody.
However, I hope the Orioles sign him. I would miss him.
PS Hope he recovers quickly from his little mishap.
Don’t see the Braves signing weiters. For one the Boras/money mentioned above and two they have 3 catchers now.
Okay, I see that now Gosewisch, Flowers, Recker.
The Braves don’t need a 4th.
The Nats might resign Ramos and I hope so, because then Wieters can come back home.
Gosewisch was a no risk signing and for organizational depth – like Recker. I see the Braves taking a run at buying low on Norris from the Padres, who have C depth and the Braves on speed dial.
Framing is a measurable skill. Easily measured now, actually.
What’s funny is that framing was a thing that old school, scouting types believed in — a soft art that couldn’t be quantified. Then, analytics showed it had real value. Now, there are seemingly some anti-analytics sorts who dispute it.
Regardless of one’s perspective, I don’t see how it can be rejected. Some catchers are better than others at getting umps to call strikes on borderline pitches. Strikes tend to lead to outs which tend to keep runs off the board. You can debate just how important it is, but there’s way to much reason behind the concept to dismiss it out of hand.
No you are right, I see it during games, the slight of hand, but I never thought about quantifying it. I know Matt is a capable catcher and if he is motivated to do so can be a good framer. I guess Russell and Showalter don’t emphasize it as much as other teams.. I know Orioles announcers are always talking about which Umpires are pitcher friendly and those who are not, They open every game talking about.
Never any discussion about framing.
Wouldn’t framing be a much more correctable/teachable skill than say, hitting home runs?
I think it is, yeah. But some have mastered it more than others, and like anything else it’s a combination of reflexes, good teaching/teachability, and repetition.
I feel the same thing happened with defense.
Framing became stylish the minute that coaches/catchers realized that MLB umps were being duped by it and that their decisions were influencing ball games.
What needs to be done is a consistent strike zone needs to be achieved.
There is no doubt there is a art to framing pitches but, Weiters is 6’4″ and presents a different viewpoint to a umpire trying to see over someone 6’0″. Velocity and Movement of your pitching staff is another factor. How about how a catcher’s rapport with the umpires around the league? There are many factors that come into play regarding the “pitch framing” analytics. If a catcher is “boxing” pitches and is obviously overmatched, pitchers will refuse to throw to him. A puzzle has many pieces so you need to be careful when judging a player based solely on one specific skill set. Sometimes Defensive statistics can skew a player’s WAR, just ask the Cubs.
An automated strike zone?
It’s coming eventually.
My reaction every time I see another rumor involving the Braves and a catcher bigmommamemes.com/u069/c8c0c02d-0c2f-467d-9484-6f3…
Is Masterson still looking for a starting job? I would be curious to see how he would fare coming out of the pen. He could be Joe Smith for way less money.
Saw some videos of him pitching last year and hes lost a decent amount of velocity. Still has a ton of movement on his pitches though. At this point hes probably just starting depth or a middle reliever, not really a very strong late inning reliever but could be a useful ground ball specialist out of the pen.
Pittsburgh will probly turn him into the all-star he once was, if he gets a gig there.
I wouldn’t over look the Jays taking a chance on him. He could be the long man out of the pen and with the recent relationship with Shapiro and Atkins it could be a good fit. This would also give them their much needed starting depth if needed
If youre talking about masterson he was in AAA for pittsburgh all last year and never got to the bigs
It should be a battle between the Angels, Orioles and Padres for Masterson. Surely he is seeking a Big League spot and those teams might be the best fits.
I agree, I think San Diego might be the best fit. They could offer him one of the open rotation slots & not to mention he went to San Diego state & would be able to train there throughout the offseason and during days off in season. Aaron Harang who was another San Diego state alum, did the same thing 5 years ago or so after fizzling out in Cincinatti, signed a 1 year deal in San Diego, got to sleep in his own bed every night, play in his hometown & it really got his career back on track and he extended it a few more years after that with a couple different clubs.
OK, so how about a team that doesn’t have a totally suspect pitching staff like the Twins do signs Wieters (and hence don’t need tons of “stolen” strike calls by good pitch framing b/c their pitchers don’t suck). Problem solved
The problem is it’s not only getting balls turned to strikes. About 15% of strikes are called balls. Some catchers are good at one or the other and some are just bad overall..
When a guy is called a good pitch framer, it means he is below average in every thing else. What ever happened to being able to throw runner out and hitting. Most umpires are on to the pitch framing anyway!
Lol you do realize buster freaking posey just led the league in pitch framing stats last year. And quality catchers like Grandal, cervelli and Molina were in the top 10. Not sure those guys are below average at every thing else.
You do realize that just about every day in MLB our friends Hunter Wendelstadt, CB Bucknor, and Angel Hernandez are putting on their chest protectors and shin guards, don’t you?
I don’t want to imply that I “know” anything Braves related but Wieters doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Everyone knows they’re kicking tires but the expected expense is a key cog into not going after him and the defense as laid out is second and those are the two most important factors for any future Braves catcher. I do see the Braves (however) having massive MiLB turnover at the catcher position… No reason to not keep drafting catchers till they get a pair they love.
The Orioles need to let wieters walk. Sign hundley for a year to bridge the gap to sisco.
Framing pitches and strike zone awareness could be cleaned up by resorting to the old dependable strike zone that has been in use for over 100 years. The high strike at the letters and the low at the knees. Umpires should square up behind the catcher rather than side saddle and just guess at the offside pitch. This would solve a multitude of problems; more strikes would be called forcing hitters to swing more rather than working the count. The game moves quicker, but these logical suggestions will never be adopted umpire’s egos would be bruised as they wouldn’t be able to showboat.
He’s 40 years old and over the hill…… move on….. Get younger
Braves should sign Weiters( 3years for 41 mil.),Trade with Rox,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Blair,Wisler,Demeritte,Ruiz,Gant,R.Sanchez and B.Davidson FOR Arenado and J.Hoffman..