The Giants have traded righty Matt Wisler to the Rays in exchange for minor league left-hander Michael Plassmeyer, per a pair of team announcements. Tampa Bay has designated catcher Deivy Grullon for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Wisler. The Giants designated Wisler for assignment earlier in the week.
Wisler, 28, was long one of the game’s best pitching prospects, both with the Padres and the Braves. He never found his footing with either club, but he enjoyed something of a breakout campaign in the Twins’ bullpen during last summer’s shortened season, when he pitched to a 1.07 ERA with a 32.7 percent strikeout rate in 25 1/3 innings. Wisler walked far too many hitters last year (13.1 percent), but it was still rather surprising to see Minnesota non-tender him in spite of a very modest arbitration price. Wisler landed in San Francisco on a one-year, $1.15MM contract over the winter.
Things haven’t gone as hoped with his new club. Wisler has been tagged for a 6.05 earned run average in 19 1/3 innings with the Giants, but he’s actually maintained his huge uptick in strikeouts while also refining his control (7.3 percent walk rate). A great deal of Wisler’s success in Minnesota stemmed from a remarkable use of his slider, which he threw at an almost comical 83.5 percent clip in 2020. Wisler has incredibly thrown the slider with even greater frequency so far in 2021, using his slider at a 90.3 percent rate.
Wisler give the Rays an intriguing and fairly low cost arm who can be controlled through the 2022 season if he rights the ship in his new environs. He’s the type of low-cost acquisition who seems to thrive with great frequency in the Tampa Bay ’pen. Injuries to the Rays’ relief staff have pushed them to the trade market multiple times already in 2021. They also acquired righties J.P. Feyereisen and Drew Rasmussen from the Brewers in a trade that sent shortstop Willy Adames to Milwaukee.
The Giants will net a nicer return than one would expect from a player who’d been designated for assignment. Plassmeyer, 24, was a fourth-rounder in 2018 who went from Seattle to Tampa Bay in the Mike Zunino trade. He ranked 30th in a perennially stacked Rays farm system at Baseball America last year, and FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen has him 31st in the Tampa Bay system in 2021.
Plassmeyer isn’t an overpowering arm, but he’s walked just 4.6 percent of the hitters he’s faced in pro ball and has ascended to the Double-A level in 2021, making him a relatively near-term prospect. Plassmeyer’s 2019 season saw the lefty post a 1.91 ERA with a 21.2 percent strikeout rate, a 4.5 percent walk rate and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate in 132 frames across three levels. He’s pitched to a 3.64 ERA so far in 29 2/3 frames of Double-A ball, enjoying a nice uptick in strikeouts (26.1 percent) while maintaining his typically stellar control.
This should be a good organization to help Wisler turn things around. I was really hoping he’d breakout with the Braves awhile back. I hope he does well with the Rays.
And now they’ll turn him into a light-out closer, because of course they will.
lights-out*
Called it when they DFAd him
technically you called for them to claim him not trade for him – so you 90% called it. Not sure why they didn’t claim him since now they are not only paying his salary but traded a player as well.
He was DFA’d, not placed on waivers, so claiming him would be premature. My guess is there was interest from at least one other team. And since the Rays have the best record in the other league, every team in MLB would have the option to claim him before the Rays had their chance. Trading for him was probably the Rays only chance to land him.
that seems like a good return for him. what’s the catch?
I was thinking the same thing.
Maybe half the teams came-a-calling after he got DFA’d and the Giants had a little bit of leverage in that regard.
I dont trust rays when they trade young pitching.
German Marquez?
Felipe Vasquez?
Genesis Cabrera?
Zaidi is pretty shrewd himself. He’s not getting fleeced here.
i mean, he waived the guy. you cant get fleeced if you didnt want the guy to begin with.
Rays were dead last in the waivers order. They knew they wouldn’t get Wisler if the Giants let him go through waivers.
Wisler throws almost all sliders. The slider wasn’t a plus pitch for him this year. Maybe Tampa can get him unstuck. Or spider tacked.
The Rays don’t play in Tampa nor are they called the Tampa Rays.
Well, I believe more than one of the commenters here said he’d wind up in Tampa Bay and turn into an all-star! Half right so far…
That was me lol
Rays will make him an elite reliever.
Tampa Bay seems to be able to squeeze gold out of old copper pennies.
Which will show how the Braves need to develop talent better.
The Braves (along with the majority of teams) need to develop talent better. I don’t think Matt Wisler potentially becoming a decent bullpen piece over 3 years after they cut bait proves anything. If it does, then what about Seattle, Minnesota, San Diego, and SF?
If anything it proves John Coppolella was doing what everyone thought, getting quantity over quality with trades.
They also need to develop talent better. I was speaking specifically of the Braves. Which is the team I follow.
Just imagine if AA had resigned Melancon. Braves would probably be in 1st in the NL East. Not looking good now.
Same team I follow, but Matt Wisler potentially being a useful bullpen piece for a team that goes through bullpen pieces like napkins at a bbq doesn’t prove that fact about the Braves.
That’s like Christian Bethancourt becoming a decent catcher now, then saying the Braves can’t develop catchers because that happened. They suck because they don’t have a crystal ball. Some players develop late and teams can’t sit on their hands waiting with a 40 man.
0.5 ERA coming up
They just hit 2 relievers from Brewers. How many do they need?
Hit = got
Innings limit will be a serious concern for all teams in august and September so any pitcher that can give innings at the show will be hugely value down the stretch as bull pens will be heavily relied upon. So many teams trying to deploy a 6 man rotation it’s insane and never seen it this bad.
I keep picturing Wisler’s mother…
whats the backstory on this? i’ve seen a few people reference his mother.
Look up Whistler’s Mother. It’s a famous painting.
Art and music education is severely underfunded.
Better yet, look up “Whistler’s mother and Mr. Bean,” which is probably where all these snobs really know the reference from 😉
Mr. Bean is not funny.
And don’t forget about his Nonna Lisa either.
Never get involved in a land war in Asia and never trade with the Tampa Bay Rays the two ageless rules
Inconceivable!
And don’t eat wet pizza
Jake Cronenworth would like a word. Though Xavier Edwards may ultimately have the last laugh.
Wow, this seems like a high price to pay for a recently DFA’d bullpen pitcher with one good ‘year’ (2020) to his name. Plassmeyer looked to be yet another pitching gem for Tampa; his minor league numbers are very good. There must be something about him, outside of his numbers, that they didn’t like. I thought Wisler could be had for cash considerations. Seems like a great deal for the Giants on the surface.
And even that good ‘year’ was only 4 games
24 and still at double-A? I thought the same thing, but they see something in Wisler obv, and do not see it in Plass. I’d also point to the division: a lot of RH sluggers in the East, sliders will be helpful.
Well he was a 4 year college player, so his first pro season (2019) was at age 22 and he jumped multiple levels that year. Then Covid wiped out 2020 for him, so starting at AA in his 2nd pro season is pretty good progress. He’ll probably be promoted to AAA before the year ends. I still think the Giants will end up winning this trade.
We shall see. As you know, never underestimate the Rays’ FO…I have done so many times, and been pleasantly surprised to be wrong quite often. There is something they see that we do not. The guy has skills obviously. Not worried about what we gave up–solid arm, sure, but the Rays have many of those, and are not about to trade away someone they will miss.
If the Rays wanted Wisler, they had very little leverage. They were last in the waivers order and it was unlikely he would fall to them. So they had to offer something decent to prevent Zaidi from just letting him go through waivers.
Poor Deivy…
Apparently the 41st man on a lot of 40 man rosters..
I was thinking the same thing. I actually liked when the Red Sox had him but then they DFA’d him, and since he’s been DFA’d what 2 or 3 more times? his 2019 numbers looked like he was onto something and about to break out as an offensive catcher. But thus far in 2021 things haven’t gone so well.
Me too. I might take him back. is anyone happy with Plawecki as the back up? He plays more than I’d like and while his bat is fine for a back up, between Kevin and the pitching staff, base runners seem to steal whenever they want to
Deivy Grullon… again!
Some people say this as a joke and hop on the bandwagon but as a rays fan honestly in the past 2-3 years what is one trade the rays have “lost” / regretted? Like completely genuine…. this kid must have something they want
I’m still confused as to why they dumped John Curtiss to the Marlins for nothing last offseason, but besides that, yeah… pretty hard to find a trade they’ve flat-out lost.
He’s the Wis, and NOBODY beats him!
Wow seems like a steep price to pay for a DFA’d P. That kid Plassmeyer may only be in A but he was a 4th round pick and has posted solid minor league numbers so far. Rays must really see something in Wisler and think he can put it all together and fulfill his potential.
Jeff Zanghi:
A DFA is not necessarily the negative you imply it to be. It depends on the teams intent. A DFA can mean they want to release a guy, or it could mean they hope to slip him through waivers, or, as I think it is in this case, intent to trade.
The Giants probably made it known that Wisler was available, gauged the interest and possible return, then DFA’d him to finalize what they considered the best deal.
“ … if he rights the ship in his new environs.”
Like that won’t happen? It’s the Rays, the ship righters.
Wisler doesn’t have any more options, so it’s sink or swim.
A Neander and Zaidi trade just seems like a diabolical move for every other team.
I don’t think the issue is the Rays seeing something in Wisler they like, and seeing something in Plassmeyer they don’t. I don’t think one thing needs to another. I think it’s more about the Rays needing bullpen help now, seeing potential to help now, and Plassmeyer, or no one else in their system is ready to be called up.
No one knows what the league-wide interest was. It’s possible there were other teams interested and there were multiple offers. Maybe Plassmeyer is what it took to acquire Wisler.
This. Just because a guy is DFAed, it doesn’t necessarily mean the team thinks he’s garbage. The Giants pretty much just had a numbers crunch, and probably thought it was time to DFA him since they would rather trade him for a prospect.
Ignoring the fact that Wisler was DFAed, a 24 year old in AA with solid but less than elite numbers is a reasonable return for a reliever who was excellent last year and still has impressive peripherals this year.
Some old guy pointed out how the entire Twins staff is underperformed compared to last season. Suggesting maybe they are one to start following the rules since opening day after the initial memo. Maybe why Wisler slider ain’t sliding this year. 1.07 ERA last year with the twins.
And let’s keep in mind the great philosopher Wimpy’s Credo: “A hamburger today is worth more than a promise of a steak tomorrow”.
Wisler doesn’t look like much, but he’s pitched in the majors (and quite well, at least at points). Plassmyer looks to be a Yarbrough-type clone, and while Ryan’s obviously out-performed his projections, that doesn’t happen much. And the Rays don’t care much if Wissler throws his slider 100% of the time. Just win, baby; we’ll pick up the pieces later.
Potential win-win for both clubs.
Giants get a nice prospect for about $400K or whatever portion they paid on Wisler’s $1.15M contract.
Rays get a pitcher who had some bad luck but has good stuff at a relatively low price.
What bad luck did he have? He was hammered and had poor control
No, he’s had good control. He just had poor command. I’m surprised someone who played pro ball and even was a special advisor to some front offices doesn’t know the difference.
I do, in fact, know the difference. I didn’t realize we were writing term papers here. He had both poor control and poor command. I’m surprised someone as distinguished and special as you has time to comment on mundane terminology among lay people. What an honor
Giants dealing from a position of depth, they have a lot of lefty’s in the pen, and Beede and Brebbia at triple A.
If the Giants trade Beede for a solid bat before the deadline I’m not going to shed any tears. Even if it’s a rental, so long as the bat is legit.
Beede is rehabing from TJ and I don’t think his value will go higher than it is right now, which isn’t very high. Time to move on.
davemlaw, I agree with your assessment on Beede, and suspect that if Zaidi gets a good offer, he’ll take it. I had thought that Zaidi would back up the truck at this deadline, but given their start, he’s more likely to add pieces and trade from their position of minor-league strength than send away his starters to be this year’s Pomeranz.
Sure, I would love to see Beede finally take root here, but Zaidi isn’t going to send away good starters this season to build their farm as long as they are still in the hunt at the deadline.
Right. And because Beede was drafted by the previous regime there’s no concern about this coming back to haunt the Giants.
If the Giants don’t trade Beede I’d be curious to see what he can do as a reliever; he’s already been throwing in the mid 90’s so it stands to reason he could be upper 90’s with a 3 pitch mix as a reliever.
Never liked him. Never want him back,
but he is giving me Morton vibes.
Cash considerations is key. It is possible that SF paid more than what is left on Wisler’s salary in order to receive a better prospect.
I would not be surprised if the Rays extracted more than what is left on Wisler’s contract in order to include a better prospect.
That is a good return for DF’A
– maybe that Baseball reference picture could get an upgrade…some lousy photoshop going on there.
Wisler will be solid gold for the Rays for as long as he’s in their uni. They’ll trade him in a year or two for a ridiculous return, and he’ll promptly turn back into a pumpkin.
Wilder has ONE pitch, he’s not gonna be solid gold
Wilder?!? How about Fury??
Blockbuster Video