Matthew Cerrone

News: Mets sign RHP Wise
By Matthew Cerrone - Dec 18, 2007 3:43 pm

The Mets have signed free-agent RHP Matt Wise to a one-year contract.

Wise, 32, was 3-2 with one save and a 4.19 ERA in a career-high 56 games last year for the Brewers.

Mets GM Omar Minaya, on Wise…

“Matt has had success in a variety of roles. He adds a versatile arm to the bullpen.”

Since 2005, Wise has posted a 3.27 ERA against the NL East.

…if i recall correctly, he was on course for a dominant season, but fell apart in late July after hitting a batter in the head…after that, it’s like his wheels came off and he could not find the strike zone to save his life…hopefully this has worked itself out…

He had a 2.19 ERA in June.

He then hit Pedro Lopez in the head, had a 4.22 ERA in July, had a 7.71 ERA in August and had a 10.38 ERA in September.

190 Responses to “News: Mets sign RHP Wise”

  1. gomets2008 says:

    Amen!!!!!

  2. terpz06 says:

    this demands a full scale press conference!! only time will tell if this was a WISE move (i’m sure no one thought of this yet)

  3. Bench5urvivor says:

    there goes that extra roster spot for flexibility… but i do like it

  4. ohboy says:

    this tells me El Duque might be in the rotation

    • The Glider says:

      . . . or Heilman?

      • Mister Koo says:

        No, Omar clearly said on SNY that Heilman had absolutely no chance to be a starter.

        • points guy says:

          yea

          i think the “heilman = starter” ship has sailed. he’s relegated to giving up go ahead hr’s in the 8th, instead of never seeing the 8th as a starter.

    • Might? Omar already said he was going to be

      • ohboy says:

        I think Omar has to say that. He has to temper the expectations of the fan. He does so by telling us he’ll be happy with Duque in our rotation, when you know he won’t be.

        He might have said that Duque was going to be in the rotation, but I, personally, never believed it.

        Wise can be a 7th inning guy or a long man and there’s not reason for 2 right handed long men…

  5. Les Gomez says:

    upgrade from Sosa………..

  6. Achilles400 says:

    What is Omar doing? Where’s the carving board?

  7. Achilles400 says:

    Frankly, at this point, I wish Omar would just come out and say there is really nothing worth doing, go on vacation, and get on with the 12-18 ST record.

    • ridethesnake says:

      He just signed a quality reliever less than an hour ago who could slide into the 7th inning. A Heilman trade looks to be on the horizon to me.

      • anditsouttahere says:

        i agree, especially if duaner comes back full force, which i am fairly optimistic he will, but who knows. then it looks like wise in the 7th, duaner the 8th, and then wagner of course. i just hope someone named johan is pitching the first 6.

  8. throatneedle says:

    yawn…..oye omar….a donde esta johan?

    • points guy says:

      sounds like you’re willing to trade reyes & maine for johan. i bet you wish reyes pulls both his hamstrings this year just to prove you were right.

      here’s 10 pts, go buy yourself a clue

      • throatneedle says:

        WRONG! i’d trade anybody else we have in the minors plus heilman for him though. too bad that’s probably not going to do it but we can all still dream. as much as i can’t stand reyes’ showboating and jumping around in the dugout there’s no way i’d trade him for a 32 start pitcher no matter how great he is, so you my friend get

        -100 + another -100 (for jumping to conclusions)

    • JarvisJanesAddiction says:

      throatneedle……
      It’s “Oye Omar, donde esta Johan?” Personally, I would add “carajo?!?!” at the end of that sentence! :)

      Santa….please bring us Santana!!

  9. njguy7676 says:

    Wait a second…Omar did something right? Also, a 1 yr contract for a releiver???? Definitely call a press conference. Good signing Omar!

  10. Constnza81V2.0 says:

    This either frees Heilman for a trade or is good insurance if Duaner is not ready for ST.

  11. [...] Mets sign RHP Matt Wise News: Mets sign RHP Wise | MetsBlog.com [...]

  12. points guy says:

    Yea, and Victor Zambrano was awesome in inter-league play.

  13. mad_mike says:

    We’ll take him.

  14. recoton1 says:

    This is just the splash that this team needed. I’m totally satisfied now with this depressing, miserable off-season. On the plus side, his 4.19ERA is considerable better than Brian Stokes’ 7.07ERA. It’s salsa-time baby.

  15. OrangeNBlueSince82 says:

    Why is there a picture of Ben Sheets at the top of this post?

  16. gomets2008 says:

    Are we bringing back Sosa?? If not and Duque is #5 , who is the long man?? Next signing will be Chacon, mark my words.

  17. Slob says:

    Wise move.

  18. The Glider says:

    I’ve always liked Wise having seen him pitch a few times. Nice pick-up. Hopefully, he has a nice year for us. Remember fellas, it’s the little moves which put you over the top.

    By the way, I’ve assumed that Matt is the son of former Phillies and Cardinals pitcher Rick Wise. Actually, their pitching wind-ups are somewhat similar. Does anybody know if that’s true?

  19. toomanyuniforms says:

    Sounds like he needs to get his head together, but I wouldn’t mind if he put one behind Jimmy Rollins.

  20. firemetmanagement says:

    Spend some $$ instead of picking up other teams’ discarded trash. AKA why didn’t we sign one of the 3 or 4 Japanese relievers on the market this year? Last I checked, Saito and Okajima are bigtime bullpen pitchers- and were obtained pretty cheaply and kind of “under the radar.” But Omar only wants second hand tr*sh like Matt Wise. Are we supposed to get excited over this? I guess this is how they will justify the 20% increase in tix prices.

    • points guy says:

      Japanese pitchers? One race at a time, buddy. He’s just learning about white players.

    • Mets_Rangers 0087 says:

      Someone fire firemetmanagement?

      But then again, I wouldn’t enjoy the daily comic relief routine by him everyday on this blog.

    • juunit says:

      You do realize that signing a Japanese player would mean signing a completey unproven and unknown entity in the majors? We know they have been successful in Japan, but not in the U.S. We know Wise can pitch at least decently in the U.S. so why go for something that could turn out to be horrible? I hate the unlimited use of ignorant on here since it almost never truly applies but that sir, was an ignorant comment.

  21. STUBZ says:

    The only worthwhile transaction all offseason.

  22. 20% increase in ticket prices for matt wise.

    aw, i’d pay any amount to head up and see the mets at shea. even if i have watch them get beat 13-0 by the pirates or something.

    • Joe Bacci says:

      Golly gee whitakers tina, well isn’t that precious! What a loyal fan you are to not care what ticket prices cost!

      I’m the opposite. I’d rather see the Mets take some proactive steps towards making baseball affordable for families again. Like the Padres have the section of the Outfield thats like 5 dollar admission to watch the game from the park area of the stadium. If they insist on raising prices after last season, please deliver us a winning product, so at least i’m not miserable as i watch the team on TV.

      That said i do share your sentiment that no number of bonehead moves or disrespectful rate hikes for us, the fans, will keep me from loving the team.

      • juunit says:

        There will be $5 seats at 36 of the 81 homegames. Probably the picnic area but still I suppose it fits the bill.

      • Mets had $5 and $10 tickets all season last year. There are specials in UR and the picnic area all the time. I bought so many blocks of tickets at 5 and 10 bucks that they tried to sell me a ticket plan.

  23. Sethuel says:

    Looks like a decent signing. Rates are all around league-average, which should be fine coming out of the pen. Looking at that picture though, his delivery looks very bizarre. He’s not quite throwing across his body, but that angle’s gotta put some strain on his elbow or shoulder.

  24. Cactus says:

    I thought they didn’t have roster spots available?

    • dk70 says:

      delgado, castillo, reyes, wright, scheider, church, beltran, alou
      endy, castro, marlon, gotay, easly
      pedro, maine, perez, duque, pelfrey
      wags, heilman, duaner, schow, feliciano, sosa, wise

      • Protes says:

        I’m counting 26:

        Pen-Wagner, Duaner (if healthy), Heilman, Feliciano, Schoenweis, Wise, Sosa (7)
        SP-Pedro, Perez, Maine, El Duque, Pelfrey/Humber (5)
        C-Schneider, Castro (2)
        IF-Wright, Reyes, Castillo, Delgado, Gotay, Anderson, Easley (7)
        OF-Alou, Beltran, Church, Endy, Gomez (5)

        Gotay or Gomez gets sent down.

        • dk70 says:

          I didn’t count Humber or Gomez as neither will start the season in the bigs. Unless Humber has an unbelievable ST, ala Brian Bannister

  25. Les Gomez says:

    does this mean they are going to raise the ticket prices again?

  26. Kramer DirtyNezz says:

    not awful, I could see him getting the 6th or 7th inning if willie uses him correctly.

  27. Teacherhst says:

    Holy Cow… I thought Omar was on vacation. Nice signing. Not the major splash we were looking for but it is good. So who is next?

  28. points guy says:

    Say ‘aye’ if you didn’t know how Matt Wise was before today!

    AYE!!!

  29. cousinrk says:

    And if we bring back Buddy Harrelson and Tommy Herr as coaches we can do a Bud-Wise-(H)err skit at shea between innings. A guy can dream…

  30. firemetmanagement says:

    Scary quote I found:

    “Apparently the Brewers decided to acquire Mota and non-tender Wise because they liked Mota better than Wise”

    • points guy says:

      puhahahahahaha

      whether the quote is true or not, the brewers in essence gave up estrada for a chance to replace matt wise with mota.

      nice!!!!!!

      +10

    • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

      scary if youre a brewers fan. as good as motas stuff is he could never get it together (naturally) here in NY. ill take wise over him any day.

      • points guy says:

        i guess our thinking is, they gotta know something about wise that we don’t.

        as for mota, his suckiness is plainly obvious.

    • thestache says:

      I really hope this isn’t true..but then on the other hand where did this mysterious quote come from fire?

    • mad_mike says:

      Ouch let’s pray he’s no Mota

    • mrose says:

      i also found this quote

      “Mets signed RHP Matt Wise, who had been with the Brewers, to a one-year contract.

      The Brewers liked Guillermo Mota better, so they traded for him last month and then non-tendered Wise last week. Our guess is that Wise is the more effective pitcher next season, and the Mets are probably getting him for less than half the $3.2 million Mota was due to make. He’ll work in middle relief.–Rotoworld

      Good luck to Matt in New York. He certainly did not sign where he expects to be the main set-up guy or anything like that.”

      at this blog :
      http://albethke.blogspot.com/

      See ‘firemetsmanagement’ this is called showing proof of things you write.

      Also, stop being such a negative a$$ about everything…yes this isn’t hte splash you wanted, but its a good signing and more people than not will see that

  31. gameball says:

    I hope there’s not some hidden reason for his horrendous late-season numbers. Feliz didn’t miss any games in July, so Wise couldn’t have been spooked because he injured a player. It’s just a little strange.

  32. firemetmanagement says:

    Courinrk:

    Funniest post of the year!

  33. Peter says:

    No whammy’s

    Big bucks

    STOP!

    You landed on Matt Wise.

    We’ll wait 6 months to see if that’s a whammy or not.

  34. Hit The Weights Zeile says:

    imagine if we could sign dotel to a 1 year contract, then we could easily include heilman in a package for a starter.

  35. deggs says:

    First Omar rang up the Register (Chuh CHING) and now he makes a Wise move!!!!

  36. firemetmanagement says:

    Fire everyone.

  37. aww the guy on the fan said he thinks johan is going to the yanks.

    that makes me sadddddddd.
    :[

    • Kramer DirtyNezz says:

      if its fat chesta or his little slave dont listen jsut drone there disgusting voices out

      • Vinnie says:

        it was john heyman.. but he said that if he had to guess out of the three teams (yankees,mets and sox) ut would be the skanks… He said that Hughes is an attractive piece and something like Cabrera and some other prospect should do it. he is pulling it out of him a$$…

        • juunit says:

          Yeah realisticly none of them have a clue and are giving their opinions. So if you really believe John Heyman is a sports analytical genius or can predict the future then start grieving. If not, just sit back and laugh at his stupidity.

  38. Wayneo says:

    He goes into the crapper the second half of the season just like the Mets.

  39. Nate W. says:

    looks to me like the Mets have a full 25 man roster, with Pelfrey the only one on the team with options.

    Gotay is the last bench man, and Register or Dauner is the last pen guy.

    This rotation is going to be brutal, and if they trade Heilman in a deal for Santana the pen could be brutal…

  40. MetsMachine says:

    Yaaaaaaaawn. These small trades are making me sleepy. Wake me up when we sign a high impact player.

    Omar….get Johan. Get him…..or you will hear the boos rain down on Ryan Church misplaying balls in right field all year long.

    • Vinnie says:

      It is a-holes like you that don’t care about the “small trades”.. Is every trade supposed to be huge? 25 Mega stars on the team.. Go across town… I bet you booed Beltran also before he 40 HR’s in ‘06..

  41. sdanzig says:

    It doesn’t look like he wasn’t even a Type B free agent. Is this true? The Brewers get nothing for him?

  42. bigchart333 says:

    this by far, is the funniest thread i’ve EVER READ on mets blog…from bud wise herr to ew IN church, and FIREMETSMANAGEMENTS obligatory FIRE EVERYONE (for NO reason) i must say, it’s good to see people jokin around a bit…
    even though it’s at the ineptness of Mets Management

  43. nychurch111 says:

    wait…… wasn’t he the one that couldn’t throw a strike against the mets that one game in milwaukee? he had thrown like 11 or 12 straight balls. in fact, i think he got pulled in the middle of an at-bat.

    great….another guy that can’t throw strikes

  44. bigchart333 says:

    yeah but don’t u people read EVERYTHING that is posted on any baseball site anywhere?
    NO relievers are consistent from year to year, nor is signing them past 1 year a good deal.
    Ergo, expect Wise to be dominating next year. Or terrible in the first half, and unhittable in the 2nd. Or Terrible all year next year.

    You know, because he’s a middle reliever and they couldnt possibly string 2 similar seasons back to back, could they?

    Heilman, Linebrink, Stanton, Nelson, Gutierrez, etc,…they all don’t count. Obviously

  45. zen says:

    is wise being paid with the 20% increase in tickets sales money or the citifield fan walk bricks money?

  46. gowrightgo says:

    Points guy has some good comments when he makes them. But seriously I think you have personally been responsible for degrading the comment section on this site.

    The whole number rating thing is so tired already.

    it might have been interesting when it started but now its just a shame.

    I get to read someones idea on a trade then instead of comments being thought of and delivered….I get +10 or -500.

    Sad actually….makes me long for the site when it was a little less populated but with guys who cared about the METS and had real value to add to the discourse.

    I might be overreacting some but I think I speak for more than myself on this one

  47. 7train says:

    Matt Wise! Matt Wise! I can hear the chant ringing through Shea.

  48. Cactus says:

    7/31 Box Score

    Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
    M Wise 0.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 10-0 3.22

    awesome outing

    • jose--jose-jose-jose says:

      I remember that game. I know it was against the mets in Milwaukee, and if I’m not mistakin, it was the game that LoDuca hit that big homerun in the 9th off of Turnbow.

      I remember the entire time saying that it wasn’t a “Wise” decision to bring that pitcher into the game. I’m glad I’ll be able to make that crack for an entire summer.

      (ps. I really like the signing though)

  49. Go Bro says:

    Good pick up by Omar. Hopefully, Peterson can straighten out his head and get him pitching inside again. Then we’ve got a real 7th inning guy. He obviously can pitch real well when his head is straight.

    • gowrightgo says:

      He is a good bullpen addition. Go back and look at his career stats on Yahoo or wherever you go to get them. He has had some pretty good years with the Brew Crew. THe second half of last year notwithstanding….this guy is going to help us

  50. hsimms says:

    A stronger bullpen than 2007 is a good move under any possible scenario.

    • Kramer DirtyNezz says:

      it was a good bullpen, just way overused by willie

      • zen says:

        yes. sele, schoeneweis, and mota are waiting for their induction into baseball’s hall of fame.

        • Kramer DirtyNezz says:

          feliciano, smith, and wagner were GOLD JERYY GOLD! then willie overworked them and the starters died. Heilman was pretty consistent…. and sosa had a few good weeks from what i recall

        • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

          if clemens gets in, then why cant mota

        • Kramer DirtyNezz says:

          BTW sele might have a case for the hall

        • zen says:

          not on the first ballot though. that would look bad for the kids.

        • gowrightgo says:

          If we were ever able to get Sanchez healthy (a big if), we would be very well off right now in the pen.

          Wags - closer
          Heilman - 7th and 8th
          Sanchez - 7th and 8th
          Feliciano - 7th and loogy specialist
          Wise - 6th and 7th
          Joe Smith - Roogy and 6th and 7th with funk
          Show - long man and spot 6th and 7th plus loogy

          Register likely does not make it.
          Sosa in AAA as a reserve
          more help in Kunz and Muniz at AAA

          Pen actually looks really solid with a healthy and formerly very good Sanchez.

          Plus, a rotation right now of Pedro, Duque, Maine, OP and Pelfrey is not looking all that bad until the injury bug hits.

          It would look a ton better if we could put Santana at the front.

  51. hot stove chef says:

    I have to say I’m really surprised that everyone is so happy about this signing. There’s been so much anti-omar sentiment this winter that I thought it would have taken nothing short Omar cloning Tom Seaver to fill out the rotation to satisfy you guys.

  52. BringBackDaveTelgheder says:

    Fantastic little signing. At worst he is no impact and we lose the cash we spent on him, at best he can become a pretty good setup man.

    • Kramer DirtyNezz says:

      no, fantastic would be getting a frontline starter, this is a decent low risk move.

      P.S. Another fantastic thing is defecating in the toilet and not having to wipe! :)

  53. DaveKingman442 says:

    He then hit Pedro Feliz in the head, had a 4.22 ERA in July, had a 7.71 ERA in August and had a 10.38 ERA in September.

    Sounds like he will contribute down the stretch run..

    BIG Freakin’ deal. Just what we need, another crappy arm to fall apart down the stretch…

    • hot stove chef says:

      I knew it was too good to last.

    • TenTonHammer says:

      Since 2005, Wise has posted a 3.27 ERA against the NL East.

      ‘05 0.964 WHIP 6HR
      ‘06 1.331 WHIP 6HR
      ‘07 1.453 WHIP 6HR

      That doesn’t suck.

      • VCarver says:

        I’m neutral on the wise signing. But you can’t just point to the NL East splits and say he is good. The Mets still have to play teams in the other divisions as well as the AL.

        At least the commitment isn’t much so that if he is bad, they are less likely to hang on to him through the season in the hope he’ll improve. That’s what they did with Mota.

  54. baby if you strip you can get a tip cos i like you just the way you are.

  55. Speed says:

    I think the Bulllpen is all set.

    6th matt wise
    7th duaner sanchez
    8th aaron heilman
    9th billy wagner

    loogy - pedro feliciano
    roogy - jorge sosa
    long man - scotte schoenweis

    Do we have room for Register and J. Smith?

  56. Hit The Weights Zeile says:

    unless we somehow trade them all for julio franco and livan hernandez

  57. dk70 says:

    That and a sack of Taco Bell won’t buy us the NL Pennant this year……..We need to trade all of the prospect for Santana and Nathan…..

  58. gowrightgo says:

    Sorry if I came off too harsh or misplaced my disappointment. No doubt that the success of the site itself is the reason for the new crappy posters. The growth in users and lousy posters will eventually suffocate the best part of the site.

    Posting is open to all. Just throwing out my criticism I guess of where the site is evolving to.

  59. NEVER underestimate the power of Taco Bell!

  60. Kramer DirtyNezz says:

    yeah doug melvin can…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcmw0ufHoBo&feature=related