Matt Wieters Reportedly Accepts Qualifying Offer, Will Return To Orioles In 2016

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports was the first to report it, with many others following suit.

If Wieters had rejected the qualifying offer and signed with another team, the Orioles would have received a compensatory draft pick in the 2016 amateur draft. Davis and Chen are both expected to decline the qualifying offer by the November 13 deadline.

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

Catcher Matt Wieters has accepted the Baltimore Orioles’ $15.8 million qualifying offer, saying his decision was based primarily on his comfort level with the team. They no longer have to enter a bidding war with other teams this off-season to keep Wieters on the team.

Accepting the qualifying offer now allows Wieters, who returned from Tommy John elbow reconstruction in June, to increase his value with a healthy 2016 season in search of a more lucrative multiyear deal this time next year. Wieters should also hit in an advantageous spot in the Orioles’ lineup after the presumed departure of Chris Davis in free agency. Given, that if that is the plan, that would most likely have to include a multi-year deal of a few sort because Wieters would want to hit the free agent market next year as a catcher if he remains on the one-year QO deal.

Baltimore will hope that Wieters power numbers return next year, his second year coming off TJ Surgery, and if they do, it could certainly be a good thing that he accepted the QO.

Wieters followed the lead of Houston Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus, who became the first player to accept a qualifying offer.