Across Major League Baseball, Pitchers and Catchers are set to report to Spring Training in three weeks. Surprisingly, Matt Wieters, a four time All-Star and two time Gold Glove winner, has yet to find a team to report to. Worse yet, it does not seem as if there is a strong interest for his services on the free agent market, certainly not in the National League East.
Recently, the Atlanta Braves, who were once rumored to have interest in Wieters, decided to sure up their catching situation by signing former Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki.
After losing Wilson Ramos to first injury and then free agency, the Washington Nationals obtained Derek Norris in a trade with the San Diego Padres. With Wieters still lingering on the free agent market, it has caused some to speculate that the Nationals may become interested. They’re not.
According to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, “the Nationals have never been particularly high on Wieters internally, according to a person familiar with their thinking, and harbor concerns about his defense and his health.” Janes later notes in her article that at this time the Nationals remain focused on improving their bullpen.
The Mets appear to agree with the Nationals impression of Wieters, and are similarly not interested. As reported by John Harper of the New York Daily News earlier this month, someone affiliated with the Mets told him, ““We’re not spending our money on a catcher.”
Last season, Wieters played in 124 games hitting .243/.302/.409 with 17 homers and 66 RBI. Overall, Wieters would finish with an 87 OPS+ and an 88 wRC+, which indicates Wieters was a below average hitter. Worse yet, according to StatCorner, Wieters has ranked among the worst pitch framers in all of baseball.
Wieters struggles at and behind the plate are a good indication why there has not been much of a market for him this offseason. It is also a good indication why the Mets would rather bet on Travis d’Arnaud rebounding in 2016 while letting Rene Rivera serve as both d’Arnaud’s backup and Noah Syndergaard‘s personal catcher. It should be noted both d’Arnaud and Rivera have consistently been good pitch framers.
According to MLB Trade Rumors, the teams currently considering signing Wieters are the Orioles, Angels, Rockies, and the Reds.
