December 09, 2008
Wieters Christmas
The trade of Ramon Hernandez to the Reds for Ryan Freel opened up space for a Baltimore prospect:
Orioles president Andy MacPhail,pictured, said the Hernandez deal was almost entirely about clearing a spot for Wieters to play regularly. "It had been our goal to introduce Matt on to the major league scene in the '09 season," he said. "As a franchise we realized our future was probably with [him]."
Wieters went from A to AA in 2008, his first season in professional baseball, and saw his numbers improve at the higher level. His numbers are better than Joe Mauer and Taylor Teagarden. He looks like the type of hitter that just doesn't have anything to prove in the minors.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:23 PM
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As an Orioles fan, I could not be more excited about this development. Getting anything for Ramon Hernandez, and Freel will be a useful utility player.
Different take here. Hernandez is an average catcher -- but average catchers are hard to come by. I'd think the Orioles could have gotten more for him, or at least could have aimed for prospects rather than someone who's reached his full potential.
Freel's a nice player, but it's not like he's going to propel the Orioles into contention.
Plus Baltimore really needs pitching