Not Sold on the Tyler Clippard Trade–Yet
By Jason Burke
If you frequent Swingin’ A’s, or have read any of my work before, you know that I am optimistic to a fault. For some reason, the latest trade of Yunel Escobar for Tyler Clippard isn’t sitting right for me. I love that the A’s now have a setup man in Clippard, who essentially replaces Luke Gregerson in the Athletics’ bullpen, but to acquire him, the A’s lost a few things that Escobar brought to the table.
With Escobar gone, Marcus Semien will now likely play shortstop, which is perfectly fine. I liked the idea of Ben Zobrist in left though, seeing as how is was an upgrade over Sam Fuld, Mark Canha and Craig Gentry. Having Zobrist in left would have given Bob Melvin more opportunities to rest Coco Crisp and play either Fuld or Gentry in center, which would likely keep the team a bit healthier.
Tyler Clippard is in his final year of arbitration, and will become a free agent after the 2015 season. Escobar has at least two seasons, with an option for a third. After 2015, the A’s will have Semien and possibly Eric Sogard up the middle, which was the plan before the Zobrist trade. It only cost Daniel Robertson (and John Jaso, Boog Powell) for this one year solution. R.J. Alvarez appears to be the setup man of the future, but apparently that future is not now.
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Where I like the trade is in the team chemistry area. Yunel Escobar has had some issues before, and may have disrupted the balance of the A’s clubhouse.
I know I should never doubt Billy Beane. That’s just a losing proposition. Now I have to believe that the A’s are going to make a hard push for Hector Olivera when the time comes, and replenish that depth for 2015, while having also added a terrific setup man in Clippard.
Looking at Tyler Clippard’s past two seasons does help to soothe the pain a little. Over those two seasons, Clippard is 13-7 with a 2.29 ERA in 141 1/3 innings. Not bad. But wait, it gets better. His WHIP in that time was under one (0.927) and his strikeout rate is 9.9 per nine innings.
Clippard has a low 90s fastball, which he mixes in with his curve, split-fingered fastball and changeup. According to FanGraphs, the fastball and changeup are his main weapons of choice, with the curve and split getting some decent play as well.
The A’s are gearing up for another run in 2015, and now their bullpen is set, if not overflowing with talent. No matter what else happens, the A’s will be an exciting team to watch next season.