Just a few days ago, the San Francisco Giants made a somewhat surprising move and designated right-handed reliever Matt Wisler for assignment. Wisler wasn’t having a great season, but he had settled down after a rocky first week, had strong peripherals, and was on a guaranteed contract.
But it turns out the Giants aren’t just eating the Wisler contract, as they’ve traded him (and some cash) to the Tampa Bay Rays for left-handed pitching prospect Michael Plassmeyer, who will join the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels.
The Giants traded Matt Wisler, whom they DFA’d. He and cash go to the Rays for LHP Michael Plassmeyer. Plassmeyer will report to double-A Richmond.
— Mark W. Sanchez (@MarkWSanchez) June 11, 2021
There are a few different ways to look at this, though the overarching view should be happiness that the Giants got something in exchange for Wisler instead of just cutting him.
The negative view here is that it’s not easy to win trades with the Rays, who are considered by many to be the smartest organization in baseball. If Wisler records all four saves as Tampa Bay beats San Francisco in the World Series, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.
The positive views are that A) the Giants get a prospect from said smartest organization in baseball, and B), San Francisco attached money to the trade. Attaching money to a trade — especially when dealing with a notoriously cheap organization like Tampa Bay — is usually code for “you’re getting a player who’s a bit more valuable than the one you’re giving up.”
I’m a fan of including money in trades to get better players. This is why we have money, so we can get things.
Plassmeyer is a 24 year old who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. He was part of the 2018 trade that sent Mike Zunino and Guillermo Heredia to the Rays, and Mallex Smith and Jake Fraley to the M’s. Safe to say Tampa Bay won that trade. Hopefully they don’t win this one.
The lefty is primarily used as a starting pitcher, and has a 3.64 ERA and 3.83 FIP in 29.2 AA innings this year, with 10.01 strikeouts and 2.18 walks per nine innings. Fangraphs recently ranked him as the No. 41 prospect in the Rays organization, which should be taken with a “the Rays have far and away the best farm in the Majors” sized grain of salt.
Welcome to the squad.