The Braves announced Thursday that they’ve claimed infielder Brett Wisely off waivers from the Giants and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Lefty Aaron Bummer was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to create space on the 40-man roster. San Francisco designated Wisely for assignment earlier in the week.
Wisely, 26, was a 15th-round pick by the Rays back in 2019. He landed with the Giants in a 2022 swap that sent outfield prospect Tristan Peters back to Tampa Bay. Neither player has made a huge impact with the team to which he was traded, but Wisely has spent far more time in the majors than the 25-year-old Peters, who made his MLB debut last month and went hitless in four games before being optioned back to Triple-A.
Wisely has logged major league time in each of the past three seasons, appearing in 164 games for the Giants. He’s tallied 457 plate appearances and posted a tepid .217/.263/.324 slash with seven homers, 22 doubles, a triple, five steals, a 25.2% strikeout rate and a 5.7% walk rate.
It’s clearly not an impressive batting line — wRC+ measures him 36% worse than a league-average offensive performer — but Wisely has provided the Giants with both versatile and skilled defensive play. He’s spent the bulk of his time at second base (682 innings) but also has ample experience at shortstop (269 innings) with cameos at third base and in center field. He’s graded out positively at every position he’s played in the eyes of both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average. And while Wisely isn’t a prolific thief on the basepaths, he does possess slightly above-average speed, sitting in the 55th percentile of big leaguers, per Statcast (and the 62nd percentile last year).
This is the last of three minor league option years for Wisely. He’s controllable all the way through 2030 but will have to stick on an Opening Day roster next season or else be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers prior to being sent to the minors. He’s far from a lock to last all the way into next year’s spring training on the 40-man roster with Atlanta, but if he does stick around that long, he’ll vie for a bench spot in what’s currently a wide-open competition.
The Braves claimed Ha-Seong Kim off waivers at the end of August, taking on the veteran shortstop’s $16MM player option in doing so. If Kim picks up that option, he’ll be the everyday shortstop in 2026. If not, Atlanta will enter the offseason with Nick Allen — a defensive standout but one of MLB’s lightest hitters — atop the depth chart at short. Atlanta would almost certainly be in the market for an upgrade, potentially pushing Allen into a bench role. Other candidates for reserve spots with the Braves would include Nacho Alvarez Jr. and former top prospect Vidal Brujan. Both Allen and Brujan are out of minor league options as well.
Suffice it to say, there’ll likely be a fair bit of turnover among that group, but for the time being, Wisely provides some depth at multiple positions and a versatile defender with slightly more bat than either Allen or Brujan can offer. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Wisely is a .274/.371/.433 hitter.