Bay Area Baseball

Okay so Matt Wieters hasn’t quite been elected to the Hall of Fame, but the Baseball America #1 prospect in baseball was sent to the minors to start the season. Barring an injury he should be up sometime after the first two weeks. Keeping him in the minors for that amount of time would keep his rights under Baltimore control for an additional season. Because their chances this year are so slim it makes no sense to waste a year of .400, 100 HR, 200 RBI seasons in a losing effort.

Fantasy Impact: Expect Wieters to immediately become one of the top five catchers offensively. Have no fear in drafting a stop gap type of catcher to hold over your team while you await his callup. He should hit in the .280-310 range with 20-25 HR and 80+ RBI depending on when he reaches the majors. A floor of a Jay Bruce rookie season and a ceiling of a Ryan Braun type season.

The 2008 season saw the rise of a number of young stars including Rays 3B Evan Longoria and Cubs catcher Geovany Soto. Next in line is another catcher, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters. Wieters received a $6 million signing bonus out of Georgia Tech and tore through the minor leagues last season putting together one of the best seasons in the past 40 years offensively in the minors.

Expect to see him in an Orioles uniform in the first quarter of the season. Much like Longoria last year, Baltimore isn’t going to want to start Wieters’ arbitration clock by having him on the roster out of spring training. Because Baltimore does not figure to contend in 2009, the clubs has nothing to gain by starting Wieters from the beginning. More time in the minors for Wieters would also benefit some of the teams rising pitching prospects including hard throwing righty Chris Tillman and 2008 draftee Brian Matusz.

Buchholz might benefit from a change of scenery.

Original Picks
11 Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates
12 Jay Bruce Cincinnati Reds
13 Brandon Snyder Baltimore Orioles
14 Trevor Crowe Cleveland Indians
15 Lance Broadway Chicago White Sox

New Picks
11 Pittsburgh Pirates - Jacoby Ellsbury, OF - Speedy Ellsbury is a gold glove caliber defender and has the potential to be an elite leadoff man.
12 Cincinnati Reds - Colby Rasmus, OF - Rasmus isn’t Jay Bruce, but his ceiling is still high enough that if he can stay healthy he should be a top outfielder.
13 Baltimore Orioles - Clay Buchholz, RHP - They can always use more pitching in Baltimore, and Buchholz has some of the best stuff in the draft.
14 Cleveland Indians - Kevin Slowey, RHP - Control artist looks like he should be a solid pitcher for Minnesota. An innings eater who is able to keep his team in the game while throwing constant strikes.
15 Chicago White Sox - Jeremy Hellickson, RHP - Rays pitcher was 11-5 with 2.96 ERA. Power pitcher would be a great solution for the Javier Vazquez replacement.