Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants have gotten some real action done at the virtual Winter Meetings.
On Tuesday, San Francisco agreed to a one-year deal with righty reliever Matt Wisler, a source confirmed, pending a physical. The pact is for $1.15 million, The Athletic reported.
Wisler fills an immediate need for a bullpen that is flush with lefties but lacked a righty and now will lack a leader with Tony Watson a free agent.
The 28-year-old broke out during last year’s abbreviated season, striking out 35 in 25 1/3 innings in which he allowed just three runs (1.07 ERA). He essentially became a one-pitch pitcher, occasionally using his low-90s fastball and shelving his curveball and changeup while throwing his slider 82 percent of the time, which worked.
That’s the back-end bullpen arm the Giants hope they have landed after Wisler was surprisingly nontendered by Minnesota, and not the Wisler who’s been a journeyman for six MLB seasons. He came up with Atlanta as a starter and didn’t see much success. He was traded to Cincinnati in 2018, where he was solid out of the bullpen. Trades and waivers brought him to San Diego, then Seattle and finally Minnesota, where he was a force last season.
The Giants recently hired J.P. Martinez from Minnesota as their assistant pitching coach, whose opinion they surely sought.
The Giants are not done and could use another righty reliever, as well as a lefty bat and at least two starters. But they’ve begun to get work done without the Winter Meetings bar and lobby.