Orioles C Wieters accepts qualifying offer

Colby Rasmus and Matt Wieters changed that this year by accepting the one-year, $15.8 million tender from their clubs.

None of the 34 qualifying offers was accepted in the first three years of baseball’s current collective bargaining agreement and 20 more were made last week. That verdict is in as Wieters has accepted the Orioles’ qualifying offer.

After spending the first five seasons with the Oakland Athletics (2009-2013) and one season with the Colorado Rockies (2014), Anderson spent his first season in Los Angeles. By accepting the offer, Anderson will have another year to show that his 2015 season was no fluke and can hopefully cash in on a bigger paycheck next winter.

Matt Wieters thought long and hard about being a free agent.

And qualifying offer decisions could have a ripple effect. That means that if any team with an unprotected first-round pick had signed him, they would’ve been forced to relinquish their first rounder and the Dodgers would have received a compensation pick for his services. For players like Zack Greinke, Alex Gordon and Jason Heyward, however, the qualifying offers attached to them won’t limit their market.

Wieters is coming off a season in which his return from Tommy John elbow reconstruction a year ago was slowed.

It didn’t appear as if Wieters was in the team’s 2016 plans, as he struggled through a mediocre 2015 season, during which he batted.267/.319/.422/.742 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs during 75 games.

Wieters had multi-year offers available to him, but after the Twins and Braves resolved their catching situations the market tightened up a bit.

Wieters’ decision likely came as a surprise to the Orioles’ front office. In seven major-league seasons, Anderson is 37-41 with a 3.72 ERA, 1.298 WHIP, and 6.7 strikeouts and 2.4 strikeouts and walks per nine innings, respectively. The Orioles could look to trade Wieters, but as part of the terms of the qualifying offer, Wieters cannot be dealt without his consent until June 15. Had he declined the offer, he would have hit the open market with a draft pick compensation attached.

“For a one-year deal, there’s no place more comfortable than playing baseball for the Orioles”, said the 29-year-old Wieters.

The Orioles also are believed to be seeking a quality corner outfielder with good on-base potential, a need that might require a multiyear deal worth about $12 million to $15 million annually.