They run the gamut from young prospects who haven’t seen AA to grizzled MLB veterans. Among them are some hard-throwing pitchers, free swinging hitters, and stout defenders. And their personal stories are just as interesting. Almost all of them are struggling with some sort of adversity, whether it is a lack of opportunity, lack of respect, or, in one case, problems with drug addiction. Quite a few of them are former Tigers, some were once drafted by the Twins, and one of them is the nephew of a reality TV star.

But the thing we really want to know about them is which ones will play for the Twins this year. Unfortunately, all of these players have one built-in disadvantage in trying to make the Majors: they are not on the 40 man roster. In order to call any of these guys up, the Twins would need to place a player on waivers or the 60 day Disabled List. Those types of transactions do happen over the course of a season, but it can be a big impediment for a non-roster player. (more…)

Actually, Wise has a third attribute that Twins scouts love, in that he is a control pitcher who uses a low 90s sinking fastball to induce ground balls rather than relying on strikeouts. So you can extend the analogy above and say that Wise is the Twins equivalent of a Reese’s cup dipped in cold, delicious beer.

The 6’2″ 190 pound right-hander made his U.S. debut in college, at Pratt Community College in Kansas. The Tigers nabbed him in the 2005 draft (round eight), and up until this past offseason, the Tiger organization was the only baseball home Wise knew. Aside from his first short season in Rookie League, he spent pretty much his entire time with the Tigers pitching out of the bullpen. The Tigers kept shuffling him between high A and AA for three seasons (2007-2009) even though he consistently put up ERA totals well under 4.00. Finally in 2010, Wise got a shot at AAA, where he pitched to a dazzling 2.08 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 52 innings. He improved on that performance in 2011 with a 1.90 ERA in 61.1 innings. (more…)