I recently sent some Baltimore Orioles questions to some of the leading sabermetricians.

The following experts provided their responses:

Mr. Dan Szymborski, the Editor-in-Chief of Baseball Think Factory (http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/), and a contributing writer for ESPN.

You can also find Szymborski on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/DSzymborski

Mr. Rich Lederer, the Operator of Baseball Analysts (http://baseballanalysts.com/), has answered some questions from Baltimore Sports and Life for the second time.

Mr. David Golebiewski, a contributing writer to FanGraphs.com, Rotographs, The Hardball Times Live and Heater Magazine. His work for Insider Edge Scouting Services has appeared on ESPN.com, and Yahoo.com.

Baltimore Sports and Life thanks each of these experts for taking the time to provide their analysis.

Baltimore Sports and Life: “It has been reported that the Orioles are pursuing Adam LaRoche and have offered him a 3 year $21M deal. LaRoche, who turned 31 in November, has an .827 career OPS and 6 seasons of at-least 20 homers. Some of his numbers the past 3 years are:

2008: 136 games, 32 doubles, 25 hrs, 85 rbi, 54 bb’s, 122 k’s, .841 OPS, UZR/150 (-6.5)
2009: 150 games, 38 doubles, 25 hrs, 83 rbi, 69 bb’s, 149 k’s, .843 OPS, UZR/150 0.2
2010: 151 games, 37 doubles, 25 hrs, 100 rbi, 48 bb’s, 172 k’s, .788 OPS, UZR/ 150 4.8

In those 3 years, he has a .742 OPS vs. LHP in 492 ab’s, and a .858 OPS vs RHP in 1,115 ab’s. The OPS dropped in 2010, but even at that level he would be an upgrade to the O’s lineup vs. what they had this past year. If he gets back to his ’08 and ’09 levels , he can help a lot. Strikeouts are fairly overrated but I do note his have increased from 122 in ’08 to 172 in ’10. He has shown an ability to be durable, provide 60 xbh’s a year, with solid defense.

Do you think he would provide $21M worth of performance during a 3 year contract?

Dan Szymborski: “Probably not. LaRoche is 31 and is coming off of his worst season since 2005, somewhat camouflaged by a good hitters park in Arizona.  ZIPS has LaRoche down to .251/.324/.460 in the AL and assuming $4.5 for a win and 5% growth per year, that is about $17M over 3 years. There are some teams in situations where it makes sense to overpay for greater certainty  – LaRoche would be a good signing for any team in the 80-90 win range and with a pressing 1st/DH need that they haven’t filled. The O’s aren’t really in that situation quite yet and should be looking for more upside than simply filling a spot adequately.”

Rich Lederer: “No. I don’t think it makes sense for any team, much less the Orioles, to give LaRoche a 3 year, $21M contract at this point in his career. I’m troubled by the fact that his walk rate was the lowest and his strikeout rate the highest of his career in 2010. He hit .330 on balls in play, yet only produced a batting average of .261. Why? Because he didn’t put the ball in play very often. Had LaRoche hit his career mark of .315 on balls in play, his batting average would have been .248 and his on-base percentage would have barely exceeded .300, which means he would have to hit a ton of home runs to be a worthwhile starting first baseman in the American League East. The bottomline is that I wouldn’t tie up the organization’s money for 3 years on a player on the downside of his career, and on the wrong end of the defensive spectrum.”

David Golebiewski: “My first instinct is that a 3 year contract to a 31-year-old 1st baseman whose best seasons have only been slightly above average isn’t the best idea. Over the past 3 years, LaRoche has averaged a little more than 2 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) per season. If that’s LaRoche’s peak, then GM’s really shouldn’t expect more than 1-2 WAR per season during his 31-33 seasons.

Just as a thought experiment, let’s say LaRoche is a 2 WAR player in 2011 and then follows a typical aging pattern, losing about a half-win of value per year (1.5 in 2012, 1 in 2013). A win above replacement has been going for about $5M this off-season. Assuming those WAR totals for LaRoche for 2011-13 and mild 5 percent inflation in the value of a win in 2012 and 2013, a market value contract would put him at about $23M for a three-year deal.

Is he worth a little over $20M in a vacuum? Maybe. But then you have to consider Baltimore’s particular situation in terms of payroll and contention, as well as possible alternatives available. Should Baltimore pay full sticker price over several years for a mediocre first-baseman? I think doing so wouldn’t make much sense, and would be a less successful move than the transactions which gave the team a new left side of the infield. Both Mark Reynolds and JJ Hardy were acquired via trade without surrendering significant farm talent. They’re being paid less than they’re worth, and they’re young enough (Reynolds 27, Hardy 28) that they could be part of the next relevant Orioles team.

By comparison, LaRoche is either in his late peak, or early decline years, and there’s not much separating him from a gaggle of other good, not great-hitting first base types. The team might be better off exploring a one-year deal with someone like Russell Branyan, who carries more risk due to a back problem, but figures to produce about as well if healthy. Or move Luke Scott to first, and explore the DH market. There are ways to improve production between first base and DH without making a three-year commitment and spending as much cash.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “In addition to LaRoche, the O’s are also in talks with Derek Lee. Lee, who turned 35 in September, had a monster 2009 season before dealing with injuries in 2010. In 109 games with the Cubs he had a .751 OPS. After being traded to Atlanta he returned to health and posted a .849 OPS in his 39 games with the Braves.

If you were in the O’s Front Office, what is the max contract you would be comfortable offering Lee?”

Dan Szymborski: “I’d be far more comfortable with a Lee signing over a LaRoche signing. Lee’s obviously a good deal older, but there’s also at least some chance that there is a star season left in him.  Given his age, he’d probably have to agree to less than Carlos Pena got for signing with Chicago but he’d be a harmless signing for a year at $8M. I wouldn’t want to go multiple years though.”

Rich Lederer: “Lee is a better gamble than LaRoche, but I wouldn’t give him more than a one-year guaranteed deal. Ideally, I’d like to have an option on him for the 2nd year. Unfortunately, I’m not sure he would go for that unless, of course, it had a huge increase in salary attached to it, or an over-sized  buyout, neither of which I would be willing to concede. As such, I’m skeptical that as to whether the Orioles and Lee can come to an agreement which would make both sides happy.”

David Golebiewski: “Lee appears to be looking for a one-year deal in hopes of re-establishing value and getting one last long-term contract. He is 35 years old, and a torn ligament in his right thumb played a part in his power decline. The chances of him going bonkers again like he did in 2009 don’t appear great, but conservatively he could be a 2.5 to 3 WAR player in 2011 if healthy. Even with mid-range pop, he’s a patient hitter and a guy who rates as a solid defender.

Given that Carlos Pena signed a one-year deal for $10M, I’d imagine Lee and his Agent are eying that salary. I like the concept of handing Lee a one-year deal at or around that salary level more than I like giving LaRoche three years. But again I think it makes sense to explore other alternatives as well. Can Scott play a capable 1st, and can a DH be added at a lower dollar amount?”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Do you think the O’s would be better served as an organization by not signing either LaRoche or Lee, and reinvesting that money into Player Development and Scouting?”

Dan Szymborski: “I really think that organizational development is the smarter, though less sexy road for the O’s to take. It stinks being in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees, but that’s where the O’s are and you really need a different organizational strategy in the AL East than you need in most other divisions. In the NL Central, the team could take a more aggressive approach at quickly papering over holes for a few years, but in the division they’re in, you have to marshal your resources and put together a real 90 win team, not an 80-85 win team that might get lucky.”

Rich Lederer: “I would favor spending money on Scouting, Player Development, and locking up some of the younger talent because I believe this strategy would prove far more beneficial to the team long-term.”

David Golebiewski: “Between LaRoche and Lee, I think Lee makes more sense as the guy who projects to be a better player and can likely be added on a one-year contract that minimizes risk. Personally, I’d try and add Lee, or explore those free agent DHs while also recognizing that Branyan’s a cheap option at either position. Neither of those options would entail a big financial commitment and would improve the team. I think a bat can be added without significantly affecting player development expenditures. And in the (likely) event that Baltimore is out of contention during the summer in the game’s most difficult division, that bat could be shopped for prospects, or perhaps converted into a draft pick.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “If the O’s signed LaRoche or Lee, moved Scott to LF, and signed one of the available DH’s (Vlad, Thome, Damon), would you expect the Oriole offense to improve by 125+ runs in 2011?”

Dan Szymborski: “I actually don’t think improving by 125 runs on offense is all that difficult a hurdle for this team. They probably scored less than the talent in the lineup merited and Hardy and Reynolds upgrade two positions from which the O’s got nothing in 2010 (.668 OPS at 3rd, .549 OPS at SS). The offense at 1st was so lousy (.226/.289/.336) that you could literally stick a random Minor League Free Agent 1st baseman and get sizable improvement. I fully expect the team to be middle of the back offensively in 2011.”

Rich Lederer: “While I wouldn’t endorse those moves if the Free Agent signings were for more than one year each, yes, I think the Orioles could add 125 runs to their tally in 2011. More than anything the O’s need to improve their approach at the plate, and get on base more often via walks as the club was dead last in that category. Reynolds and Hardy will provide more home runs at their positions than last year’s left side of the infield. A more productive first baseman and DH would help as well, but at what cost?”

David Golebiewski: “The O’s scored 613 runs last year, besting only the historically inept Mariners among AL clubs. To get a very rough idea of how Baltimore’s lineup projects next year, I entered the ZiPS projections of the following lineup into David Pinto’s Line Analysis Tool:

2nd Roberts
RF Markakis
DH Vlad
LF Scott
1B Lee
3B Reynolds
CF Jones
C Wieters
SS Hardy

Hardy’s ZiPS isn’t yet available, so I used his career batting line instead. I got about 5.1 runs per game for the above lineup, or roughly 826 runs over a full season. Now, that’s assuredly overstating Baltimore’s offensive clout – it assumes the above lineup will play in all 162 games – which won’t happen. But if the O’s add a couple of bats the caliber of Vlad and Lee (that’s no sure thing either), their runs score total could climb to the upper 700’s. A 125 run improvement might not be all that insane.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “As mentioned, earlier this Winter the O’s traded for 3rd baseman Mark Reynolds. There has been a lot of attention on his .198 batting average in 2010, and his 3 successive years of 200 k’s. There has been less attention to his career .817 OPS (.352 wOBA), and his 2.5 UZR/150 in 2010. He is signed for ’11, and ’12 with a $11M option for ’13. Do you like Reynolds to provide a minimum of league average production in 2011?”

Dan Szymborski: “Reynolds will almost certainly provide above-average production. My main concern is if the team will actually let him. A lot of organizations will look at a player like Reynolds and focus on the negative and try to ‘fix’ the player, which never really ends well. One of the things that made Earl Weaver such a great Manager was that he focused on what players did well rather that what they did poorly. John Lowenstein can’t hit lefties? Fine. Leave him alone and let him hit righties. The strikeouts will make talk-radio cringe, but if the Orioles have the patience to not worry about the strikeouts and let Reynolds’ game-changing power be a net-positive, they’ll come out ahead. I know it’s stupid considering everyone from 20 years ago is gone, but I still think back to the bellyaching that led to Mickey Tettleton being traded for Jeff Robinson and worry.”

Rich Lederer: “Yes, I would expect Reynolds to bounce back in 2011. He hit .257 on balls in play last season vs. an average of .343 the previous three seasons, partially due to the fact that he generated fewer line drives and ground balls than ever before. Not surprisingly, the increased number of fly balls and pop-ups were turned into outs more frequently, negatively weighing on his BABIP. While I don’t want to turn Reynolds into a contact hitter, I think he has become a caricature of himself by upper cutting and swinging for home runs most of the time. He can handle fastballs, but seems to be easily fooled by breaking balls, especially sliders. I’ll leave it up to the scouts to determine if that if that’s due to guessing or poor pitch recognition.”

David Golebiewski: “Despite his well noted flaws, Reynolds is a solid everyday player. He draws a good number of walks, and has elite power which helps mitigate his contact issues and lackluster defense (his career UZR/150 is about 6 runs below average). In most situations a strikeout is not more damaging to run scoring than a generic out. There are exceptions, obviously (like a runner on 3rd base with less than two outs). But overall, sabermetricians Tom Tango, Mitchel Litchman, and Andrew Dolphin found in The Book that a generic out costs a team -0.299 runs on average. A strikeout costs -0.301. A batter who gets on base and makes forceful contact when he does connect can still be valuable. Reynolds is an extreme case, but he’s still a well-above-average batter.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “The O’s other acquisition during the Winter Meetings was to trade for the SS JJ Hardy. Hardy, who turned 28 this past August, has a .746 OPS for his career. In the past three seasons, he has posted the following numbers:

2008: 146 games, 31 doubles, 24 homers, 52 bb’s, 98 k’s, .821 OPS, 6.8 UZR/150
2009: 115 games, 16 doubles, 11 homers, 43 bb’s, 85 k’s, .659 OPS, 9.2 UZR/150
2010: 101 games, 19 doubles, 6 homers, 28 bb’s, 54 k’s, . 714 OPS, 12.8 UZR/150

Some things that jump out to me when you look at those numbers:

1) Is he going to be capable of 130+ games?
1a)
Is the wrist injury that bothered him in 2010 totally past him?
2) Izturis’ UZR/150 the last 3 years has been ’08 8.6, ’09 12.1, ’10 5.8 = 26.5 Hardy’s is 28.8. By that metric alone, you would think the O’s are getting a comparable defensive SS.
3) Hardy’s lowest OPS during the past 3 years (.659) is above any season number for Izturis since 2004.

What do you think about Hardy? If the O’s wanted to extend him for 2 years, what type of contract would you offer?”

Dan Szymborski: “Hardy’s a great pickup and I don’t think the Orioles will come out too unhappy for 2-3 years at $5-8M (depending on his willingness to stay). He’s a very underrated defensive player and the injuries should keep his price down. It’s hard to say whether his injuries are behind him – wrist, arm, and shoulder injuries can occasionally be as devastating to a hitter as a pitcher. Just look at how quickly Morgan Ensberg and Brad Wilkerson washed out from injury. As long as the Orioles aren’t expecting Hardy to hit 25 homers, they’ll be happy.”

Rich Lederer: “Hardy was a very productive hitting shortstop in 2007, and 2008 when he was just 24, and 25 years old. In fact, it looked as if he was one of the best middle infielders in baseball back then. After falling far short of those expectations at the plate the past two seasons, that’s no longer the case. His greatest value now is as a plus defender at a premium position. How he hits is the wild card. I would offer him $6 to $6.5M for his third and final year of arbitration in 2011, and $7.5 to $8M for his first year of free agency in 2012 with an $8.5 to $9M option for 2013. However, I don’t think I would be willing to go beyond the upper end of those ranges at this point.”

David Golebiewski: “Getting Hardy from Minnesota for future middle-reliever in Brett Jacobson and a control-challenged reliever with a shoulder surgery (Jim Hoey) seems like a coup to me. It’s hard to say what the state of Hardy’s wrist is, but he’s an elite defender who profiles as an above-average everyday player even if he doesn’t improve upon his 2010 production at the plate. I don’t foresee him returning to 2008 levels at the plate, but he doesn’t have to in order to be an asset an a gargantuan improvement over Izturis.

It’s admittedly a guess, but I’d imagine that Hardy isn’t looking to lock into a long-term deal right now. With a healthy, productive season, he’ll hit free agency at under 30 and as one of the few enticing options available at the shortstop position. For their part, the Orioles might be wary of committing to him until they have a better idea of his long-term health. Still, it would be prudent for the team to open the lines of communication on an extension.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “In the first 105 games of 2010 the O’s had an ERA of 5.18. After the All-Star break the O’s were 37-37 with a 4.13 ERA. Under Showalter the O’s had 36 Quality Starts in 57 games with a 3.16 ERA. Is a 4.20 ERA in 2011 a reasonable expectation for the O’s?”

Dan Szymborski: “Boring answer here – the true number is probably somewhere in the middle. They’ll need a bit of luck with player development to hit a 4.20 unless offense drops more. Young pitching is very volatile and the O’s haven’t finished out the sorting out process of experimenting with pitchers to see who will stick long-term. Except Matusz, of course.”

Rich Lederer: “That’s a good over/under line. I believe Guthrie and Matusz will beat that mark but am not sure that Arrieta, Bergesen, and Tillman will get there this year.”

David Golebiewski: “ZiPS shows Brian Matusz leading the O’s with a 4.38 ERA. Given the considerable growing pains of Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta, likely regression from Jeremy Guthrie (he out pitched his peripherals by a considerable amount last year) and Brad Bergesen’s mere adequacy, I find it hard to believe Baltimore will manage a 4.20 ERA from it’s starters.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “The existing Oriole rotation is Matusz, Guthrie, Arrieta, Bergesen, Tillman, with Britton waiting in the wings. Thoughts on that group? Would you agree the O’s are better off going with that group, vs. adding another veteran starter?”(Examples being a Freddy Garcia, a Bonderman, a Chris Young)

Dan Szymborski: “An innings-eater isn’t a bad idea, if only to keep the bullpen from getting group discounts for Tommy John surgery before Labor Day. Kevin Millwood was lousy in 2010, but he actually served this purpose pretty well. If you’re looking for a guy like that, Bonderman is probably the safest of the trio as he’s actually pitched a decent number of games without blowing up recently.”

Rich Lederer: “I would be inclined to go with that group of pitchers but wouldn’t be adverse to signing a veteran free agent if one of them dropped into my lap at a one-year, cost effective signing. I saw Britton pitch in the Futures Game, and am really high on him. He’s not going to miss a lot of big-league bats but will pound the bottom of the strike zone with the two seamer and produce an inordinate amount of ground balls. He is on the verge of being ready and will probably get called up after Memorial Day to prevent his arbitration and free agent clock from starting too soon.”

David Golebiewski: “As an extreme fly-ball pitcher, Matusz will either have to up his K rate from the mid-to-low 7’s or tighten his control to take the next step. At the present moment, he’s about an average starter. I think he and Britton (solid K rates, insane ground ball numbers) are the best long-term bets among Baltimore’s starters – they’re guys most likely to be at the top of the rotation in a few years. Tillman still has potential, and Arrieta to a lesser extent, though both have been a disaster in the Majors to this point. I’d be surprised if Guthrie turns in another sub-four ERA. Bergesen looks like back-end fodder to me, a guy with solid control and GB rates who a team doesn’t mind having in cost-controlled seasons.

I don’t think it would hurt Baltimore to dumpster dive for a starter in the low-end of free agency, as I’d expect them to be conservative with the workloads of Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta, and Britton once he arrives.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Markakis is signed through 2014, with a 2015 option. His last two years have been a regression from 2008, but he just turned 27 in November. It seems reasonable to me that he is just hitting his prime. Projections for 2011?”

Dan Szymborski: “ZIPS sees him at .288/.363/.447, about where he’s been for a few years. There was always hope that the doubles power would turn into 10-15 more homers per year, but we may be at the point where we just have to be content with Markakis being a very good durable player, rather than a superstar. I suspect that a breakout season for Markakis will be fueled by a .310 to .330 year rather than adding much more power.”

Rich Lederer: “For the most part, I think what one sees in Markakis is what one gets. I don’t see him deviating too much from his roughly .300/.370/.460 career line. I would expect his home runs to jump back to the 18-20 range, primarily owing to a more normalized HR/FB rate, which plunged to 6.1% in 2010 vs. a career mark of 9.9%. He’s an ideal No. 2 on a championship team.”

David Golebiewski: “Markakis’ last two seasons have been a relative disappointment, as declining power numbers and below-average defensive marks (per Ultimate Zone Rating, Total Zone, and Defensive Runs Saved) have made him a 2-3 WAR player after a fantastic 2007 (+4.2 WAR) and 2008 (+6.1 WAR) campaigns. According to FanGraphs‘ splits section he’s hitting fewer pitches to the pull (right) side of the field, instead putting more balls in play to center where he has his worst results. He’s a good opposite field hitter, but he’s not hitting for as much power to that direction over the past two years. I can’t say if he is consciously trying to make more contact at the expense of power – his contact rates have increased as his pop his dipped – but if he is, I’d suggest taking a healthier cut.

The contract extension looked like a win for Baltimore at the time, and it certainly still could be. But if he’s an average defensive outfielder with moderate secondary skills, then I don’t think he’ll be a big bargain. I still think Markakis is, at worst, a 3 WAR type of player, with the potential for more. Maybe he isn’t a superstar, but he’ll still be a quality player. If I had to wager, I’d say Markakis bats .290 to .300 next year with a .360ish OBP, and a slugging percentage a bit north of .450.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Adam Jones is 25 and not a Free Agent until 2014. His defense has not been as good as reputation the previous two years (though it did appear to improve as he played deeper once Showalter came on-board). Over those last 2 years he also has had 3 months with an OPS over .900. FanGraphs shows his Dollar value over the last 3 years as a combined $24.2M. Would you advocate the O’s to try and extend him a year or two past Free Agency now?”

Dan Szymborski: “If you want to keep a player long-term, sooner is always better if you want to save money. His negative defensive numbers are probably overblown – defensive numbers have improved greatly over the last 15 years, but you still need a far bigger sample size for defensive stats than offensive ones. His UZR for his career in Center is -2 runs per 150 games and thats probably where we should consider him for the time being. There’s a lot of similarity with him and Markakis actually. Not that they are similar types of players, but like Markakis, Jones is a lot more exciting once you’re past him not being a superstar and just content with a really good player.”

Rich Lederer: “I like Adam Jones. His tools would suggest that he has the potential of becoming an All-Star Center fielder in the years to come. There aren’t too many Major Leaguers with three full seasons under their belt who won’t turn 26 until the second half of 2011. I think a good comp for him is Torii Hunter. Like Torii when he was young, Jones needs to improve his BB/SO ratio if he is to fulfill his promise. I’m sure the Orioles would also like to see him become a more consistent performer month-in and month-out. As to signing him to a long-term contract, I would wait one more year to see if he develops into the player who is worthy of extended past his arbitration years. The bottom line is that I believe we will know a lot more about Jones in a year that we do now. If it means paying up for him, that wouldn’t bother me all that much.”

David Golebiewski: “This is a trick question. Jones will play most of 2011 at age 25, and despite his so-so offensive showings and near-average defense, he has been around and average starter during the course of his career. I’m generally and advocate for signing young, potential star-level position players through their arbitration years and buying out a year or two of Free Agency if possible. Doing so provides cost certainty for the team, protecting against large year-to-year jumps in salary arbitration and locking the player up through what figures to be that player’s peak seasons.

The question the Orioles have to ask is, do they project Jones to take several steps forward performance-wise over the years to come, to the extent that hammering out a long-term extension now figures to provide the team with cost savings relative to what they would pay by going year to year through the arbitration process? If they think he can stop hacking so much and hitting so many ground balls, traits which have limited his offensive output to this point, then trying to work out a deal could make sense.

Personally, I’d be surprised if Baltimore makes a long-term contract extension offer this winter. There’s still uncertainty in terms of Jones’ offensive ceiling – he walked under four percent of the time last year, while swinging at 41% of the pitches thrown out of the zone (MLB average is slightly over 29%) – and he has several years of team control left. He hasn’t separated himself from his peers like a Justin Upton or a Jay Bruce, guys who almost assuredly will be championship-level performers over the long haul. That said, there is still plenty of time to explore extending Jones if he shows signs of growth this season. He’s quite young and has been an OK starter despite his flaws.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Bill James is predicting a 2011 OPS of .809 for Wieters. (Was .696 in ’10). Do you foresee a jump for Wieters similar to James’ projection?”

Dan Szymborski: “That’s a pretty aggressive jump. Wieters has the talent to do that (ZIPS has him jumping up to a good, but nowhere near as impressive .751 in ’11). Catchers tend to be very hard to project and a lot of young catchers, even star ones, frequently regress offensively. The team can help matters by watching his workload better in 2011. Wieters is a big guy and just look exhausted up there by June.”

Rich Lederer: “I think it’s entirely possible although an OPS of .800 is putting a lot more faith in his college and minor-league stats than what he has produced at the big-league level thus far. His best OPS for even half of a season has been the .765 he produced in the second half of his rookie season in 2009. Nonetheless, he is how Wieters gets there: 1) Continued progression in his walk-rate, 2) Increased power, and 3) A rebound in his BABIP – all of which are within his capabilities.”

David Golebiewski: “Wieters hasn’t been Superman, and he hasn’t immediately made good on all of those Chuck Norris-style facts O’s fans conjured up. But still, it’s important to keep in-mind that he’s a 24-year-old catcher coming off a 2.3 WAR season that was considered a pretty big disappointment. I think it is almost a sure thing that he improves at the plate – Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projection system pegs Wieters for a .751 OPS and a 100 OPS+ (OPS adjusted for park factors and league run-scoring levels). If he hits fewer grounders and taps into his power, Wieters may well reach that James forecast.”

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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