The Nationals and setup ace Tyler Clippard have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $5.875MM, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
Clippard, 29 on Friday, exchanged figures with the Nats last month. He and his agents at Excel Sports Management filed for a hefty $6.35MM, while the Nationals countered at $4.45MM. His ultimate salary falls north of the $5.4MM midpoint but comes in south of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz's projected $6.2MM payday.
The Nationals brought in a new closer in the form of Rafael Soriano last offseason, leaving Clippard with little hope of repeating his 32 saves from the 2012 campaign. A shift to the seventh and eighth innings didn't harm his production one bit, however, as he continued his success to the tune of a 2.41 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 73 innings. Over the past five seasons, Clippard has a 2.72 ERA in 383 1/3 innings to go along with averages of 10.3 strikeouts and 3.6 walks per nine innings pitched. He's controllable through the 2015 as a Super Two player, as he currently falls just 24 days shy of five full years of service (4.148).
As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, the Nationals have now successfully avoided hearings with all 10 of their arbitration eligible players.
$5.875m is quite a bit for a setup man, is it not? Balfour got $6m from the Rays as a closer, but closers tend to get higher rates. Not saying he isn’t worth it (his numbers are great!), I’m just always surprised by salary inflation in the MLB.
This is very reasonable for a setup man.
Sincerely,
The Dodgers
His salary jumped significantly last year because of the 32 saves in 2012. However, he’s since been moved out of that role. Now he’s getting paid sort of like a hybrid closer/setup man.
This is where arbitration hurts the club. You could go out and get a guy like Joe Smith for less on an AAV basis (though you need to commit more years). Clippard is a very solid reliever and would be an asset on any team. However, he is no bargain despite being in his arbitration years.
He got that contract because he is rated NL #1 setup man. Good Deal for both
He’s worth it, too. All Clipp does is get outs late in games (unless he’s facing the 2013 Braves). Plus he can throw multiple innings if needed. And he still looks like a bargain compared to Sori’s ridiculous contract.
Career line as a reliever: 2.72 ERA, 1.098 WHIP, 10.3 K/9. He’s not Kimbrel but I can tell ya that we in DC love this guy.
This is where arbitration hurts the club. You could go out and get a guy like Joe Smith for less on an AAV basis (though you need to commit more years). Clippard is a very solid reliever and would be an asset on any team. However, he is no bargain despite being in his arbitration years.
T-Clip getting paid! He is stud glad he got his money..