The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve claimed lefty Brandon Eisert off waivers from the Rays and designated right-hander Steven Wilson for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster.
Eisert, 27, made his big league debut last season as a member of the Blue Jays — he’d previously gone from Toronto to Tampa Bay in a cash swap following a separate DFA — and allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings. He spent the bulk of his season in Triple-A for a third straight year. Despite generally successful numbers there in seasons past, he didn’t get a big league look until 2024.
In three seasons with Triple-A Buffalo, Eisert posted a 3.83 ERA in 183 1/3 innings. The former 18th-round pick has set down 28.6% of Triple-A opponents on strikes against a tidy 7.9% walk rate. He’s consistently posted ground-ball rates between 42-44%, right around league-average, and allowed either 1.17 or 1.18 HR/9 in all three of those Triple-A campaigns. Eisert doesn’t throw hard, relying on a 90-92 mph heater as well as a slider and changeup that both fall in the 84-85 mph range. He’s consistently generated quality results in the upper minors, however, and has a pair of minor league option years remaining.
Wilson, 30, went from San Diego to Chicago as part of the Friars’ acquisition of Dylan Cease. He wasn’t a headline piece of the return by any means, but the Sox surely hoped that he could build off two solid seasons to begin his career as a member of the Padres’ bullpen. From 2022-23, Wilson totaled 106 innings of 3.48 ERA ball with a 25.4% strikeout rate, 10.9% walk rate, 1.19 HR/9, 27 holds and a save.
Things didn’t pan out as hoped. Wilson had multiple IL stints due to back strains, saw his fastball velocity dip from 94.5 mph to 93.4 mph on average, and served up eight homers in just 34 1/3 innings (2.08 HR/9). His 20.9% strikeout rate and 16% walk rate were both career-worst marks.
The Sox still tendered Wilson a contract after the season and came to terms on a $950K salary. That salary could now help him pass through waivers unclaimed, at which point the Sox could stash him in Triple-A. Wilson would have the right to reject an outright assignment to the minors in favor of free agency, but he’d have to walk away from his contract in order to do so. He’ll likely accept an assignment if it comes to that.
For the time being, the Sox will have five days to trade Wilson. At that point, he’ll need to be placed on outright waivers (a 48-hour process) if he’s to have his DFA resolved within the allotted one-week timeframe.
Wilson the Padres are on line 1
We love Steve-O, maybe AJ dangles a MiLB split with a ST invite?!?
That was my thought as well
Great minds, amigo! Enjoy the wet weekend JM!
Does it really matter? Garbage in, garbage out.
One of Slipknot’s best songs!
“Liberate”
Mr. Reinsdorf please sell the team. Terrible brand of baseball from ownership to low minors. Ask the Southside. Fans probably skip opening day and remainder of season.
UPDATE: I ran into Jerry at the gas station the other day and asked him if he had seen your comments on here. He said he did and that he had no idea that you felt that way. He went on to say that since you did, he will go ahead and put the team on eBay this weekend and should expect a new owner to take over next week.
Hope that helps. Have yourself a terrific weekend.
Back to making great prog music then I guess.
I didn’t realize that the founder/singer/songwriter of Porcupine Tree also played baseball, even if not well enough to not get DFA’d, that’s still talent!
It’s entirely possible that someone agrees to send the White Sox some cash to skip the waiver line and snag Wilson. Or perhaps the White Sox are interested in a guy that a team acquiring Wilson would DFA to make room for Wilson.