Front Page: Twins Claim RHP Matt Wisler

[Seth Stohs]

The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have claimed right-handed pitcher Matt Wisler from the Seattle Mariners. The Twins are Wisler's fourth organization in 2019.Matt Wisler is a 27-year-old who began the year with the Cincinnati Reds. Before the season started, he was traded to the Padres. He pitched in 21 games out of the bullpen and posted a 5.28 ERA in 29 innings. On July 4th, he was purchased by the Mariners from the Padres. He finished the season with 23 appearances for the Mariners. In 22 1/3 innings, he posted a 6.04 ERA. In 51 1/3 total innings, he walked just 16 batters while striking out 63 batters.

 

Wisler was the 7th round draft pick of the San Diego Padres out of high school back in 2011. He became a Top 100 prospect nationally before the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He was traded to Atlanta at the start of the 2015 season in a package that sent Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton to the Padres.

 

Wisler made 19 starts in 2015 and 26 starts in 2016. Since then, he's mostly pitched out of the bullpen and struggled.

 

But there are reasons to like this claim. As Parker notes, he has become a slider pitcher.

 

 

 

 

 

Wisler is out of options, so should he remain on the Twins roster through spring training, he will need to remain on their 26-man roster or be put through waivers.

 

Earlier this week, the Twins announced that they had DFAd outfielders Ryan LaMarre and Ian Miller, and infielder Ronald Torreye.

 

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[bighat]

Interesting pickup. See nothing wrong with giving the guy a look!

[rdehring]

Only negative I see is that if he stays on the 40-man, another spot is taken that could have gone to player X.  Expect there are going to be several players not added who's absence is going to be a surprise to many of us.  Will any of them no longer be Twins come December?  Time will tell, but I am expecting they are going to lose somebody (or somebodies) we like...alot.

[beckmt]

Twins probably have another 5 to 6 people to drop, and looking at a younger pitcher who can be fixed is a good thing

[darin617]

Who needs Cole when we just signed Wisler!

[jkcarew]

So, we got a guy that needs to be fixed. And he'll have to be fixed while on the major-league roster.

 

Sure is good to be playing in the AL Central! (until the post-season, of course.)

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

So, we got a guy that needs to be fixed. And he'll have to be fixed while on the major-league roster.

 

Sure is good to be playing in the AL Central! (until the post-season, of course.)

 

potentially... but lots of times (as noted in the other thread) teams drop these guys through later hoping to stash them in the minors.

[chpettit19]

 

So, we got a guy that needs to be fixed. And he'll have to be fixed while on the major-league roster.

 

Sure is good to be playing in the AL Central! (until the post-season, of course.)

They'll be trying to fix his fastball (which they did wonders with for a number of guys in the pen this year) between now and spring training. Then he'll get to audition for a pen spot during the spring. If they are convinced he can't be fixed they cut him loose without any loss. Smart move to take a flyer on a guy with 1 plus pitch already and see if you can fix 1 other pitch and now you've got a viable bullpen arm for nothing.

[Mike Sixel]

Not a fan of picking up players that haven't been good, if they are out of options. but whatever. I prefer my bullpen to mostly be great pitchers, or guys with options that can go down and up.

[rcfarmer78]

I am ok with this pickup but feel they did not even get the best of the family. Hopefully they can still get Wislers Mother!

[Hrbowski]

 

Not a fan of picking up players that haven't been good, if they are out of options. but whatever. I prefer my bullpen to mostly be great pitchers, or guys with options that can go down and up.

Care to elaborate? It can be a great way to get underrated players. I don't see why Wisler isn't any better than say, Fernando Romero.

[notoriousgod71]

My co-worker despises Wisler for some reason (he also had an irrational hatred for Dyson long before we ever picked him up) so I will cheer for Wisler more than anyone since Tim Stauffer.

[Mike Sixel]

Care to elaborate? It can be a great way to get underrated players. I don't see why Wisler isn't any better than say, Fernando Romero.

I prefer guys they aren't sure of have options. I hated the bullpen two years ago for that reason. They couldn't move anyone around. I don't want them in the same position ever again.

[Thrylos]

Check this video out from when the Braves traded for him in 2015

 

Former top 50 prospect, was the Braves' second overall after that trade.     Lots of potential there.  In the big picture of things the risk is yet another arm to fight for a back of the rotation spot.   He just turned 27 last month and interesting to see what he can do with some good coaching.   Nothing to dislike about this

[markos]

 

I prefer guys they aren't sure of have options. I hated the bullpen two years ago for that reason. They couldn't move anyone around. I don't want them in the same position ever again.

I agree with your reasoning here, but I think Wisler is worth the exception here. He checks a lot of the boxes that I look for breakout candidates:

- pedigree (former top-50ish prospect)

- age (a lot of pitchers take leaps in their late 20s)

- current stuff (he has a legit swing-and-miss slider)

- past organizational history (I don't consider Sea, Atl, Cin, SD as elite pitcher development organizations. It would be different if he was coming from Hou/NYY/LAD)

- weakness fits the Twins developmental strength (he needs a better fastball. The Twins seem to be able to get more velocity out of their pitchers)

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking he will be a stud. If pressed, I would guess that his most likely outcome is that he is waived before the end of spring training. But I like the upside, and I'm cautiously optimistic.

[Doctor Wu]

Count me as liking this move. Not a great deal of risk and plenty of upside. Sure, he takes up space on the 40-man roster, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think that's a problem at all. I love moves like this, always hoping that the player can live up to his potential.

[gbg]

Clown? Slug?

Not a big fan of this move. This FO doesn't have the best track record when it comes to relievers IMO. Not sure why the grass is always greener on the other side. I'd rather have Jovani Moran on the 40 man more than this clown. I bet we lose someone better Who has options left. they will let this Slug go after he fails again. I don't trust this FO with pen decisions.

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Not a big fan of this move. This FO doesn't have the best track record when it comes to relievers IMO. Not sure why the grass is always greener on the other side. I'd rather have Jovani Moran on the 40 man more than this clown. I bet we lose someone better Who has options left. they will let this Slug go after he fails again. I don't trust this FO with pen decisions.

 

I don't know... look at how many guys turned into pretty decent relievers this year. The BP was considered a pretty big weak point going into the season and we fans all hammered them pretty hard for not doing enough...

 

They finished with one of the best pens in the game this season. Were mistakes made? Sure... but their process certainly yielded results. 

[AceWrigley]

 

My co-worker despises Wisler for some reason (he also had an irrational hatred for Dyson long before we ever picked him up) so I will cheer for Wisler more than anyone since Tim Stauffer.

Lew Ford called. Said he's going Green and getting a new Roof.

[Harrison Greeley III]

Sounds like we've got 2020's Ryne Harper attempt, or more optimistically a Sergio Romo in the rough.
 

Just a quick tip if you don't already know: When the Twins make a buy low pick-up like Wisler, it's best to go straight to the player's Fangraphs page and look at the Pitch Values section. You'll notice the pitcher will tend to have one pitch that's positive and most other pitches that are negative. Therefore the key would be finding the right pitch mix and sequences to maximize value out of that positive pitch. Sergio Romo or Ryne Harper's 2019 first half are great examples of how that's done successfully.

 

[mikelink45]

We could have a contest to pick his DFA date!  Not exciting.  Another project for Wes Johnson.  Great he already has Graterol, Smeltzer, Dobnak, May, Duffey, Stewart, Thorpe, Romero, Hildenberger, Perez, Harper, Gonsalves, and Alcala on the current 40 man to work with and straighten out.  Is his Erector set big enough to keep adding projects?  

 

I know many of these will disappear, but that just means we have more projects to replace them.

 

By the way - what is happening with Gonsalves?  I see him going away and wonder where is potential flamed out.

[prouster]

Not a big fan of this move. This FO doesn't have the best track record when it comes to relievers IMO. Not sure why the grass is always greener on the other side. I'd rather have Jovani Moran on the 40 man more than this clown. I bet we lose someone better Who has options left. they will let this Slug go after he fails again. I don't trust this FO with pen decisions.

Would you want people calling you a clown and a slug because you did your job to the best of your abilities? Posts like these add rot to Twins Daily.

 

From a baseball perspective, I think this is fine. The season doesn’t start tomorrow. They have plenty of time to tweak some things and make a judgment. They built a very good bullpen last year, so I trust them. I highly doubt they’ll lose someone off the 40 man who will ever make a meaningful impact on a Major League roster (though don’t quote me on that).

[Linus]

Not a huge fan of this move but maybe they think he can have a Duffey like resurgence if he ditches the sinker and goes four seam up in the zone

[Dman]

 

I don't know... look at how many guys turned into pretty decent relievers this year. The BP was considered a pretty big weak point going into the season and we fans all hammered them pretty hard for not doing enough...

 

They finished with one of the best pens in the game this season. Were mistakes made? Sure... but their process certainly yielded results. 

 

While I agree I am being a little bit harsh my main criticism is their infatuation with rule V pickups or guys with no options who have to remain on the 25(6) man roster which can allow other teams to pick up our home grown guys via rule V. 

 

Last year the guys that mainly ended up working out the best were guys that were in OUR system (home grown) not someone else's.  Guys that had options remaining so that they could move them up and down.  This pickup doesn't allow for any of that and smells a bit like their rule V pick failure Tyler Kinley.  Not saying you can't find diamonds in the rough in rule V but unless they are certain they can fix this guy it seems like a waste to me.

 

I am fine with guys they sign that start at AAA with the potential to be added later like they did last year I just don't like these types of moves where they have to roster a guy who has been historically bad and is now 27 with no options.  I would rather they use that spot to get someone with a proven MLB track record in free agency or keep one of their own players form being poached. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Dman

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I prefer guys they aren't sure of have options. I hated the bullpen two years ago for that reason. They couldn't move anyone around. I don't want them in the same position ever again.

I hear you, but Wisler's upside is likely only available because he is out of options. Don't pass on upside just for flexibility.

 

The guys to avoid are Breslow types, or Justin Haley "Rule 5" types, where the flexibility *and* upside is fairly low. (And to the Twins credit, they seem to be learning that?)

Edited October 30, 2019 by spycake

[Dman]

 

Would you want people calling you a clown and a slug because you did your job to the best of your abilities? Posts like these add rot to Twins Daily.

From a baseball perspective, I think this is fine. The season doesn’t start tomorrow. They have plenty of time to tweak some things and make a judgment. They built a very good bullpen last year, so I trust them. I highly doubt they’ll lose someone off the 40 man who will ever make a meaningful impact on a Major League roster (though don’t quote me on that).

 

You are right my rhetoric was too harsh.  I just never liked the Tyler Kinley signing and my emotions got the better of me.  Thanks for calling me out.  I agree with you no need to degrade. I removed the post since it serves no good purpose with that content in it.

Edited October 30, 2019 by Dman

[KGB]

The Twins would have been one of the last teams to get a waiver claim based on their record.  So he seems like someone who they could later put through waivers and open up the 40 man roster spot and still keep him.

 

Nothing wrong if they are just playing the waiver game.

[Vanimal46]

over/under 3 weeks before he's back on the DFA waiver train? 

[Mike Sixel]

 

I don't know... look at how many guys turned into pretty decent relievers this year. The BP was considered a pretty big weak point going into the season and we fans all hammered them pretty hard for not doing enough...

 

They finished with one of the best pens in the game this season. Were mistakes made? Sure... but their process certainly yielded results. 

 

Did any of those surprises come from outside the org, that were previously awful, and then fixed? Like,  perez...

[jjswol]

I don't get too excited about/over pickups like this at this time of the year, here today and maybe gone tomorrow if a perceived better name pops up on the waiver wire.