3:13 pm: Vielma has been claimed by the Giants, Darren Wolfson of KSTP News reports via twitter.
The former Twins infield prospect adds a bit of depth to a Giants team that has been in dire need of a defensively-minded backup infielder lately. Both Kelby Tomlinson and Orlando Calixte have been underwhelming with the glove this season, so if Vielma can develop even a replacement-level offensive skillset, his defensive wizardry could make him a solid utility option for San Francisco.
2:54 pm: Recently-designated Twins infielder Engelb Vielma has been claimed off waivers by an unknown National League club, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Vielma was designated for assignment by the Twins on Tuesday in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for lefty reliever Gabriel Moya. The switch-hitting shortstop has yet play in the majors. In 314 plate appearances at AAA this year, he put up an unimpressive .206/.233/.260 batting line.
In spite of his poor hitting, it makes sense that an organization would have interest in Vielma. He has been rated as the Twins’ best defensive minor-league infielder for multiple years, and could serve as an excellent defensive replacement or utility option. It’s possible he could still carve out a path to the majors, but he’d need to make major improvements with the bat.
Vielma, a 23-year old native of Venezuela was first added to the Twins’ 40-man roster this past offseason in order to protect him from the rule five draft after he managed to get on base at a .344 clip between High-A and Double-A in 2016.
Probably the Padres
When he was Dfa’d I figured they’d pounce, have a clear opening at SS with aybar set to leave
WHO??????
Was he able to hop on the Padres flight out of Minny? :)
He’s in AAA Rochester
Still close to the airport.
I bet Preller punched a hole in the wall when he found out he didn’t get him. Oh well, when the Giants release him, he can grab him
He’ll fit in with the Giants. No power.
Possibly the only person in the world with the name Engelb?
Except for Engelb Erthumperdinck…
Well done! :)
What’s more, scrambling his name gives you “EE, leaving MLB”.
We come here for the baseball, but we live for the anagrams!
So over a year Giants and Twins swapped Adrianza for Vielma. Hasn’t worked out bad for MIN
Twins fans are going to miss his name…
twinsdaily.com/blog/483/entry-8757-twins-admit-eng…
Well this move will get the Giants back into the WS picture soon…..lmao
He should have went to the red sox – would have been perfect!
Whenever I see Engelb Vielma’s name I think of random Scrabble tiles and come up with the word bevelling.
I thought his name was spelled backwards or something
Whoops, Guess the Giants and Bobby Evans are admitting that they screwed up when they DFA’d Adrianza earlier in the year.
BTW = Bochy – You had better put a call in to Molitor, it seems HE knows how to BEAT the Padres, while you can’t. Perhaps with some prodding, he will share his secret with you.
Did they screw up with Adrianza? He’s had less than 200 at bats. He still produces nothing. We already have enough of those.
they really didn’t screw up with adrianza – and really I feel like the giants do best when they are out of adrianza like scenarios because guys like that keep them from looking at better options because it is a semi-safe fallback. I feel the same way about some of the guys in the bullpen too – when you have these guys hanging around that produce just enough to make you not want to throw them away they end up eating up roster spots that you could use to give other guys the chance to get into the fire.