The Indians have agreed to terms with reliever Alex Wilson, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The right-hander receives a minor-league deal with an invitation to MLB Spring Training.
Wilson will need to earn his way onto the Indians roster this spring. If he can do so, he would stand to earn $1.25MM for the 2019 season. The deal also includes a $750K incentives package.
The 32-year-old Wilson was a perennial contributor to the Tigers bullpen over the prior four seasons. All told, through parts of six MLB campaigns, he carries a 3.23 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 along with a 44.8% groundball rate. The bottom-line numbers were similar last year, when Wilson ran a 3.36 ERA in his 61 2/3 frames while boosting his groundball rate to 49.2%.
Any team would certainly love to have a durable, low-3 reliever in its pen. The issue with Wilson is whether that sort of performance can really be anticipated moving forward. The Detroit organization obviously wasn’t optimistic, as it non-tendered him rather than paying a projected $2.8MM salary. And the rest of the league declined to come forward with a 40-man spot before the start of camp.
Wilson sits in range of 93 mph with his four-seam and two-seam fastballs. He throws breaking balls as well but relies most heavily on cutter/slider offering. Wilson’s hard-to-classify main pitch was more effective than ever last year even as he boosted its usage to the point that he utilized it in half of the pitches he delivered.
To date, Wilson has maxed out that arsenal and done just enough to get outs, even without a swing-and-miss offering or sustained, elite groundball production. He doesn’t issue many walks and has historically not outperformed Statcast’s expectations (career .317 wOBA-against vs. .314 xwOBA-against), but ERA estimators haven’t been enthused (career 3.81 FIP, 4.39 xFIP, 4.14 SIERA).
Those interested in learning more about where Wilson has been and where he might be headed would do well to check out this lengthy look from SB Nation’s Brandon Day.
Hard to find an arm who profiles as much like Tomlin as Wilson in terms of stuff and pitching philosophy.
Dude, I loved Tomlin, but can’t remember the last time he hit 93 on the radar gun. He usually topped out at 88-89.
At least this guy has some gas.
I’d doubt he ever touched 93 at all
I think early in his career he could hit 90-92
Dude, I love A-Willie. He will be a dependable reliever for the Tribe.
Huh? Tomlins GB:FB ratio was .60 last year. (79 GB for 117 FB) Wilson’s was 1.60. (90 GB for 59 FB)
Wilson had more ground balls then Tomlin, and nearly half as less than half as many flyballs.
I’m not sure where the philosophy is the same there.
I just meant in the sense that they’re both relatively low-leverage pitchers who pitch to contact and generally avoid walks. 6th-7th inning types. Perhaps philosophy wasn’t the best term to describe that; a combo of stuff and role, really. The fact that one’s a fly ball pitcher and one’s a ground ball pitcher is pretty meaningless in the end when their bottom line numbers aren’t worlds apart: 4.2x FIP, 2 BB/9, 1.2 WHIP, etc.
This is a great signing. His ERA was not bad last season. Good Cleveland trying to strength the bullpen.
Another guy that deserved better than a minor league deal.
so let him earn his major league deal…
Somebody has never watched AW pitch
I have John and he did indeed deserve a major league deal.
Detroit’s front office OBVIOUSLY disagrees with you and so has EVERY other MLB front office. At least Cleveland’s giving him a CHANCE to PROVE he still belongs in the majors.
I’m good with this signing, we are getting options for the bulk pen. Now add Marwin Gonzalez and lets start camp
Given Wilson’s connection to the redsox organization, the fact he has experience as a back end reliever and the fact the sox are signing so many relievers that have that profile to,minor league deals, I’m surprised they didn’t sign wilson
This is a decent, low-risk option. He’s another reasonable option to throw into the mix.
that’s a pretty darn good MiLB signing forna team with bullpen needs. i see him making the BP out of ST.
This is proof positive that there will be a strike by the players union when their current deal expires in a couple of years. How can a guy with a career ERA of 3.23 over 6 years in the A.L. not secure a major league contract? His former team let him go because they didn’t want to pay him $2.8M this year? Not every BP pitcher needs to throw 98mph or strikeout 9+ per 9 innings to be effective. Saber metrics have gotten way out of control.
While this is a fantastic deal for Cleveland, it’s a bad deal for the MLB players union and will only add fuel to the fire when their deal is up. I do not usually side with the players, especially the likes of Harper and Machado who try to hold teams/owners hostage for ridiculous money, but I do feel badly when solid players like this get screwed by the system. MLB Free Agency is broken and needs to be fixed. Too many established veterans are still without contracts for 2019 and will be forced into signing minor league deals, well below their true value. This is the second year in a row this has happened and will probably get even worse next year. Wilson would help the bottom 15+ MLB teams to be better at a very affordable rate but these teams have no incentive to do so. Way too many teams are purposely tanking for better draft position and owners are greedily pocketing record revenues. Something needs to be fixed and fast! #savebaseball !!!
its supply and demand really
He’s not that good and certainly not a multimillion dollar pitcher.
“This is proof positive that there will be a strike by the players union when their current deal expires…..”
@ BoSoxWin;
1. This refrain in the MLBTR Comment section (and many of the articles) is growing as tiring as…..
“…..and they can trade him at the deadline”.
2. The Players/Owners agreement does not expire for 3 years – an eternity in a pro sport where 1/3’rd of rosters change every off-season, and roster moves are made 3-6 times a week during the season. Check out a few teams rosters opening the 2016 season and what they are today.
3. With teams paying analytical people and scouts to scour the bushes 24/7 to find decent bullpen arms, it’s simply unbelievable that everyone is conspiring against Mr. Wilson.
Maybe he’s not throwing as well as in the past; maybe there’s an issue off the field; maybe his agent is being unreasonable in salary demands; maybe something else.
Issue unexplored. Tigers were dirt terrible last year. Spanked before inning 5 many games. Wilson was okay in relief in games of no consequence.
I hope he is great for an Indian but pitch for a roster spot on contender is great privilege, great baseball arm wants to prove it on big stages. Wilson, hope you earn the big million and make the squad!
entitled much? let him earn his money and work for an extension
Compared to their other bullpen options, this guy seems like a pretty good lock to make the 25-man.
Must be the only guy in baseball right now born in Saudi Arabia. I think Yu Darvish is half Saudi, but not born there.
His father is Iranian, mother Japanese.
Surprised he got a minor league deal, he hasn’t been in the minors in years and had a good year for the tigers last year, not to mention he’s joining a relatively weak Cleveland bullpen. Good signing for the Indians though
By this time of the year, MLB GMs, AGMs and Pro scouts have pretty much combed through the supply of available talent. The numbers on Wilson LOOK good, but it’s hard to think he’s signing this late out of choice. There’s likely more going on here.
You know it’s late when Espinoza signs with a team (Mets) that has the free world supply of infielders. That’s called grabbing anything that comes by.
FA is the Wild West!
Owners vs FA’s at the O.K. Corral
For reasons unknown, I always thought Wilson would turn out to be a far better reliever than he has.
Nice low risk signing by the Tribe…