Player agent Scott Boras, who represents pending free agent Matt Wieters and several other current Orioles, met with executive vice president Dan Duquette this week in Baltimore.
They talked in general terms about various issues, including Wieters, but it was more an exchange of ideas than anything specific, an industry source said.
Boras, who is based in Southern California, also spoke with club owner Peter Angelos during his trip east.
Any potential extension for Wieters, who has spent his entire career with the Orioles since he was drafted with the fifth overall pick in 2007, will wait until the offseason, if one happens at all.
Duquette, who has agreed to in-season or postseason extensions for Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy in the past, prefers to wait on contract negotiations until the offseason. He reiterated that sentiment Thursday.
“The club is focused on the season and playing into October,” Duquette said.
Wieters is one of the Orioles’ more notable pending free agents along with Mark Trumbo and another Boras client, Pedro Alvarez.
Boras negotiated a $161 million extension for Orioles’ first baseman Chris Davis last winter.
A four-time All Star, the 30-year-old Wieters is hitting .235 with 14 homers and 60 RBIs this season, his eighth in the majors.
Wieters, who had Tommy John surgery in 2014, could have become a free agent last year, but accepted the club’s qualifying offer of $15.8 million in November.
He’ll likely enter a free agent class this offseason that lacks high-profile catchers besides the Washington Nationals’ Wilson Ramos.
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The Orioles are dumber than i thought they were if they resign Wieters.
Certainly he shouldn't get top dollar, but who else in the system is ready to be an everyday catcher for the parent team? Unless they'll shell out what it takes to move Wilson Ramos north just a bit, which I can't see happening but would thrill me if it did, the O's will have issues behind the plate. Wieters isn't what we hoped he'd be when he was drafted. He won't transition to DH or 1B because of the lack of consistent pop in the bat and the presence of Davis for the rest of eternity. But he does manage a pitching staff reasonably well, which counts for something. My main thing is that I hope they don't sign him to a long contract for major bucks. Get three years at $12-15 million per and it may be worth having him around to mentor Sisco as he transitions to the majors.
"Wieters isn’t what we hoped he’d be when he was drafted." He had a stellar MiL record, but never played anywhere near that level in the majors. He didn't improve enough to be a force at the next level. He maxxed out in the minors.
"Get three years at $12-15 million per and it may be worth having him around to mentor Sisco as he transitions to the majors."
"Francisco Cervelli, projected to be the best catcher on the 2016-17 free agent market, signed a three-year, $31MM extension with the Pirates. Cervelli may have left $20MM or more on the table in signing his new deal." mlbtraderumors.com