2. Matt Wieters – BAL
On the surface, Matt Wieters has a lot going for him. He has good size, plus power at the catcher position, can hit from both sides of the dish and he’s a three-time All-Star with two Gold Gloves.
However, unlike many position players, Wieters has been afflicted by a shoddy UCL in his right throwing arm. 2014 was shaping up to be a breakout year for the backstop. As a 28-year-old, he was hitting .308/.339/.500 through the first 26 games of the season, adding five homers and 18 RBI to the mix. Then the elbow injury struck, he had TJ surgery and missed the rest of 2014 and the first couple months of 2015.
With the red flag of the UCL injury looming over his head and a not so productive 2015, Wieters chose to accept a one-year qualifying offer from the Orioles for $15.8MM. It’s a lot of money and certainly more than Ian Desmond got, but Wieters is showing future bidders for his services little right now in the way of being an impactful catcher in 2017.
With much of Baltimore’s offense being better than anyone’s in April, Wieters stumbled out of the gates with a .214/.290/.304 slash line. He has only three extra base hits, having gone deep only once, with eight runs driven in. Given the protection and talent surrounding him in the lineup, it’s difficult to see a silver lining.
Next: Number 1