Fansided

Matt Wieters to accept qualifying offer from Orioles

By Kyle Franzoni

Oct 4, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) stands at home plate during the eighth inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 9-4. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) stands at home plate during the eighth inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 9-4. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Baltimore Orioles will be welcoming back catcher Matt Wieters after the backstop accepted the team’s qualifying offer on Friday.

It took three winters for a player to accept a qualifying offer during MLB free agency. Now we have two in a matter of hours of each other.

Colby Rasmus broke the seal when the Astros outfielder accepted the $15.8 million, one-year contract from Houston on Friday, becoming the first person to do so since the qualifying offer became a part of free agency prior to the 2012 season. Now, he’ll be joined by Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Wieters was an interesting case in terms of whether or not he would accept the qualifying offer this winter. Despite entering what would have been a rather lackluster catching market, Wieters faced a soft market due to the lack of available landing spots for catchers as well. Additionally, the 29-year-old was coming off two consecutive seasons dampened by health issues.

Wieters missed most of 2014 after being forced to undergo Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. Some early season complications resulted in the catcher not making his debut until June 5th, but even then he was limited and didn’t catch many back-to-back games.

While he was limited in playing time, his bat was serviceable during his brief stint back. In 75 games and 282 plate appearances, Wieters hit .267/.319/.422 with eight home runs and 25 RBI.

While free agency for a 29-year-old catcher would normally be a good spot to be in, especially one with the hitting potential of Wieters, his value was at rock bottom and taking another year before entering the market again will allow him to re-establish his value and land a bigger deal in 2016-17.

With that in mind, a $15.8 million contract is still a hefty raise for a guy that has earned just $22.85 million over the course of his career. Taking the one year deal is a good bet with a solid fallback if he fails to get back to his career norms of .255/.319/.420, 17 home runs, and 66 RBI prior to the surgery.

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