TD: Much is made of Wieters' height. Do you expect that he will spend the bulk of his career at catcher, assuming that he's as solid defensively as many scouts say?

BJ: Exceptional players often don't fit the profile. Cal Ripken was the tallest shortstop anybody could remember ... didn't matter, because he had unique skills.   
 
TD: Does the difficulty of the position make Wieters a more uncertain prospect than comparable hitters at most other positions?

BJ: No. But very often there are "start-up glitches" in the careers of young catchers.
 
TD: Many fans here believe that even if the Orioles are on the right track as an organization, the AL East will remain a daunting mountain to climb in the foreseeable future. Do you agree?

BJ: I can't foresee anything. But one certainly can't foresee when the division won't be tough.
 
TD: Is there a player (any team) who interests you most going into this season? An issue or storyline?

BJ: I'm interested to see how Matt Holliday does in Oakland. Pittsburgh has a couple of really interesting young players, in Brandon Moss and Andy LaRoche. And Nelson Cruz in Texas.
 
TD: Your colleague, John Dewan, recently posted about his realization that defense might be roughly half as important as offense. Does that feel right to you in light of all the research you've done over the years?

BJ: I haven't studied the article yet.
 

TD: If defense is the area where statistical analysis is progressing most, what are the biggest unanswered questions about it? 
 
Well, it's not exactly a question of unanswered questions, because a sixth grader could give you the questions and we have answers. It's an issue of confidence. When we have multiple people studying the same issues, looking at them from different angles, and they're all getting about the same answers, then we can have confidence in those answers. We're approaching that point, but it takes time. 
 
 
TD: Have you found your work with the Red Sox rewarding in different ways than any of your previous work? If so, how?

BJ: I suppose the biggest thing I enjoy about it is learning about the game in different ways, coming to understand, to some extent, the problems that everybody is dealing with in trying to produce a championship.   
     Something you can simply never appreciate, except from the inside, is the vast number of people who contribute to a championship season. The minor league manager who taught your No. 2 starter to throw a slider. The organization's outfield defense instructor who worked with your left fielder on playing a ball off the wall. The scout who found your relief ace. The cross-checkers who OK'ed the drafting of the relief ace. The contract negotiators who worked out a deal with the second baseman. The intern who spotted the fact that another organization might be ready to give up on a pitcher we could use. It's literally hundreds and hundreds of people, and you can never see that from the outside. 

TD: Do you anticipate writing a book about your time with the Red Sox? Would too much of your work with the club be considered proprietary?

BJ: Too much of it would be proprietary. And also, I don't really know what I would say. I don't even like answering your damned questions about the Red Sox, to tell you the truth.  
 
 
TD: Do you believe Curt Schilling will make the Hall of Fame?

BJ: He should. There's a good chance he will, but the fact is that unless you're Cal Ripken, the Hall of Fame is kind of a hit-and-miss proposition.
 
 
TD: Speaking of the Hall, do you expect that we will view steroids differently in say, 10 or 20 years? Is there a comparable issue or story in the game's history that had people so initially perplexed?

BJ: Gambling was an issue like this, until it was revealed that the gamblers had fixed the World Series. Once it was learned that players had fixed the World Series, then the public was united against them. Until then, though, it was a divisive and confusing issue. 
 
TD: Barry Bonds is, on paper, probably the greatest player since Babe Ruth and certainly the greatest of the last few decades. Do you think of him as such?

BJ: Certainly.
 
TD: I've read that you're finishing a book on great unsolved crimes. Did you approach the cases in the same way that you might an unanswered baseball question? When will the book be published?
 
 
BJ: There's no stat analysis in the book, but people who have read my books over the years will recognize a lot of the type of thinking, I hope. I'll have it to the publisher in a couple of months.