Wither Whiteside

College catcher Matt Wieters has been chosen 5th overall by the Baltimore Orioles in this year's amateur draft. The guy has the glove to get to the majors quickly but his bat probably needs a few years of seasoning in the minors. The hope is that he'll be ready to contribute when Ramon Hernandez's contract is up at the end of the 2009 season.

If signed, he comes to an organization that is severely lacking in catching depth. Only one catcher in their entire minor league system has a +.700 OPS -- Zachary Dillon at high class-A Frederick.

Interestingly, the Orioles drafted him even though Scott Boras is his agent. It's well known that in the past Oriole owner Peter Angelos has done his best to avoid dealing with Boras clients. The decision to take Wieters by the Orioles front office may be a sign that Angelos is willing to loosen the purse strings a little bit more and not let his ego get in the way of getting the Orioles the best players available. Hopefully this is a sign that next off-season the O's will pay (as in $80 million-plus) for the free-agent bat they so desperately need in '08.