Author Topic: Clippard returns - can Sean Burnett be far behind?  (Read 2340 times)

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Offline Elvir Ovcina

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I just would rather see them dumpster diving for younger options who could help in the future.

That's sorta it, though.  A dude who has an ERA near 3 over the last 3 years and isn't 37 isn't a dumpster dive.  Even Brad Hand, who's in that range roughly but doinked his way to 3 teams over the course of last season, got $6 million.

If you want to dumpster dive, Jimmy Cordero and Wander Suero are out there but, uh, there's a reason for that.

Offline imref

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I had completely forgotten about Wander Suero.  Thank you :(

Offline Natsinpwc

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That's sorta it, though.  A dude who has an ERA near 3 over the last 3 years and isn't 37 isn't a dumpster dive.  Even Brad Hand, who's in that range roughly but doinked his way to 3 teams over the course of last season, got $6 million.

If you want to dumpster dive, Jimmy Cordero and Wander Suero are out there but, uh, there's a reason for that.
Not sure what a minor league contract is but all I am saying is maybe they could have spent that elsewhere. Take a flyer on someone younger. And I don’t mean Wander Suero who is 30. In any event it’s not a big deal for the season. Does not change the likely outcome. However signing guys like him and Parra is all about ticket sales.


Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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If giving minor league contracts to ageing journeymen will have any measurable effect on ticket sales then I want a Nats front office job  :D 
Not sure what a minor league contract is but all I am saying is maybe they could have spent that elsewhere. Take a flyer on someone younger. And I don’t mean Wander Suero who is 30. In any event it’s not a big deal for the season. Does not change the likely outcome. However signing guys like him and Parra is all about ticket sales.



Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Honestly, it is not about just sales. If he shows anything, clippard can be traded at the deadline. It's a very low risk move. Much higher likelihood of paying off than a kid who is released. Of course, Finnegan I think was a nice flyer.

Offline Smithian

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I just would rather see them dumpster diving for younger options who could help in the future. 
Any reliever under 30 with even one pitch that could be useful in the major leagues isn't hitting free agency. They may get waived off the 40 man, but no one is letting relievers with potential walk. They're cheap and not hard to hold onto in the minors.

Offline Elvir Ovcina

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Not sure what a minor league contract is but all I am saying is maybe they could have spent that elsewhere. Take a flyer on someone younger. And I don’t mean Wander Suero who is 30. In any event it’s not a big deal for the season. Does not change the likely outcome. However signing guys like him and Parra is all about ticket sales.

A minor league contract costs not much at all.  For a veteran, it's often around $100-150k (if there's competition for the guy) if he stays in the minors and minimum salary if he makes the MLB roster.  Sometimes a bit more on both.  He's actually a reasonably good player to get on a minor league deal.  There's not really any risk - this isn't paying Brad Hand $10 million or Trevor Rosenthal $7 million or Rafael Soriano or Jonathan Papelbon whatever they paid them.

Offline imref

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Clippard assigned to Rochester

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Clippard assigned to Rochester
makes some sense, tbh.  Got a bit of a late start.  If he misses 2 or 3 weeks in April, fine, as long as he can show some performance in May-July, he's a trade chit.  However, the bullpen breaking camp is going to be pretty bad.

Offline imref

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Clippard has been awful as of late at Rochester. Era now almost 8.00 :(

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Clippard has been awful as of late at Rochester. Era now almost 8.00 :(
had real hope for this signing.

Offline skippy1999

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had real hope for this signing.
He's 37 years old, why on earth would you have hope?? I understand he's been decent the last few years but pinning hopes on aging players (cough Cruz cough) is nonsensical.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Prerty much (unless they are juiced up like Clemens or Pettite)

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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He's 37 years old, why on earth would you have hope?? I understand he's been decent the last few years but pinning hopes on aging players (cough Cruz cough) is nonsensical.
looked like he had figured out how to pitch with declining velocity. The pitcher v thrower.  The drop offi in performance has been steep

Offline skippy1999

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looked like he had figured out how to pitch with declining velocity. The pitcher v thrower.  The drop offi in performance has been steep
yea but at a certain point they can't get away with it anymore, age waits for no man. Or something I don't know but I am not getting my hopes up for anybody over like, 35 and even then I'm skeptical.

Offline Natsinpwc

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yea but at a certain point they can't get away with it anymore, age waits for no man. Or something I don't know but I am not getting my hopes up for anybody over like, 35 and even then I'm skeptical.
Yea there is a reason no other team signed him on the cheap.

Offline skippy1999

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Yea there is a reason no other team signed him on the cheap.
I know. I mean sometimes you do luck out and get somebody really good that everyone else missed out on but rarely someone on their late 30's.

Offline van lingle mungo

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Saw 3 of Clip's outings for Rochester. He was decent in 2 and godawful in the third - walked the bases full and then gave up a 2-run single. His overall command is questionable but the change up still looks fairly nasty and like it can still play in the big leagues.

Offline welch

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Clippard pitched 1.1 innings of hitless relief today, with two strikeouts. Bit by bit, one inning of relief at a time, Clippard has reduced his ERA to 4.02.

https://www.milb.com/gameday/red-wings-vs-red-sox/2022/05/15/664400#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=664400


Offline blue911

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Clippard pitched 1.1 innings of hitless relief today, with two strikeouts. Bit by bit, one inning of relief at a time, Clippard has reduced his ERA to 4.02.

https://www.milb.com/gameday/red-wings-vs-red-sox/2022/05/15/664400#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=664400

He had a bad 10 day stretch in the second half of April, otherwise he’s been decent

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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He had a bad 10 day stretch in the second half of April, otherwise he’s been decent
at this point, do you think it is a roster squeeze?  Looking at the 40 man roster, the nats have a lot of pitchers on the 60 day IL that will have to be added back, perhaps in June.  In terms of the 40 man guys in the minors, there's a lot of recent pick ups from waivers or trades, plus Evans Lee who they like. 

Maybe you move Adon back to the minors and start Espino / Ramirez / Rogers, but that doesn't answer the 40 man problem. 

Offline blue911

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at this point, do you think it is a roster squeeze?  Looking at the 40 man roster, the nats have a lot of pitchers on the 60 day IL that will have to be added back, perhaps in June.  In terms of the 40 man guys in the minors, there's a lot of recent pick ups from waivers or trades, plus Evans Lee who they like. 

Maybe you move Adon back to the minors and start Espino / Ramirez / Rogers, but that doesn't answer the 40 man problem.

I think Clippard is preying on guys who can’t hit off speed crap. AAA is full of such players, MLB isn’t.

Offline Elvir Ovcina

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I think Clippard is preying on guys who can’t hit off speed crap. AAA is full of such players, MLB isn’t.

Maybe, but - I guess because he was playing for anonymous, non Eastern time franchises - people seem to be missing that Clippard has an ERA under 3 in the majors over the last 2 years.  You absolutely can get by with well-located junk in MLB, especially for only an inning.

Offline welch

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Offline blue911

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Maybe, but - I guess because he was playing for anonymous, non Eastern time franchises - people seem to be missing that Clippard has an ERA under 3 in the majors over the last 2 years.  You absolutely can get by with well-located junk in MLB, especially for only an inning.

I’m looking at his recent MLB history of using a splitter and two-seamer more at the expense of his 4-seamer. He no longer is getting strikeouts with his circle change which suggests his decision to scrap the high strike for pounding the bottom of the zone has turned him into a bridge guy not a high value player