Headlines

  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Astros To Promote Brice Matthews
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help
  • Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays
  • Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nationals Sign Sam Clay To Major League Contract

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2020 at 12:44pm CDT

The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve signed 27-year-old lefty Sam Clay to a Major League contract. The 2014 fourth-rounder has spent his entire career prior to this point in the Twins organization but has yet to appear in the Majors. Clay’s contract comes with a $575K guarantee, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Clay is represented by the Ballengee Group.

While Major League deals for minor league free agents who have yet to make their Major League debut are admittedly rare, there’s a handful of them every winter. The Nationals, in fact, fared well in exactly that type of signing just one year ago when they inked longtime Athletics farmhand Kyle Finnegan to a Major League deal. He went on to toss 24 2/3 frames of 2.92 ERA ball out of the Washington ’pen in 2020. They’ll hope for similar success with Clay in 2021.

Because of the lack of a minor league season in 2020, Clay has just 22 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level under his belt. He’s pitched to a 4.37 ERA in that time but logged a much more impressive 26-to-10 K/BB ratio and a 60.6 percent ground-ball rate. Clay’s sinker has consistently generated ground-ball rates north of 55 percent, including a ridiculous 77 percent mark through 46 2/3 frames at the Double-A level in 2019.

Past scouting reports on the 6’2″, 190-pound lefty have also touted an above-average curveball, and it should be noted that because of his extreme ground-ball capabilities, he’s surrendered just six home runs in 405 1/3 minor league innings. To further emphasize the eye-popping nature of that stat, consider that Clay has faced 1814 batters in that time.

Clay was never selected to the Twins’ 40-man roster at any point in his career to date, which also means he’s never been optioned to Triple-A. As such — much like Finnegan — he still has three minor league option years remaining, so he doesn’t need to crack a spot on the Nationals’ Opening Day roster by any means. He’ll give the Nats some much-needed lefty depth in their bullpen mix, where Ben Braymer had previously stood as the only southpaw bullpen piece on the team’s 40-man roster.

Share 0 Retweet 7 Send via email0

Transactions Washington Nationals Sam Clay

Offseason Outlook: Colorado Rockies
Main
Ron Fowler Steps Down As Padres’ Chairman; Peter Seidler Named Control Person
View Comments (28)
Post a Comment

28 Comments

  1. krillin89

    5 years ago

    Good for him!

    1
    Reply
  2. DarkSide830

    5 years ago

    they struck gold with Finnegan, maybe they can again

    1
    Reply
  3. qman383

    5 years ago

    Why don’t I just go eat some hay? I can sign Sam Clay, or lay by the bay, I just may! What do you say?

    11
    Reply
    • hende3165

      5 years ago

      A+ comment right here

      4
      Reply
    • baseballpun

      5 years ago

      Nay.

      3
      Reply
    • bhambrave

      5 years ago

      Is that you, Dr. Seuss?

      1
      Reply
      • baseballpun

        5 years ago

        I think it’s George Carlin.

        Reply
        • bhambrave

          5 years ago

          Did you ever notice that you never saw George Carlin and Dr. Seuss in the same room? I wonder…

          3
          Reply
  4. reflect

    5 years ago

    Clay will be an important part of the foundation.

    Hopefully they can mold him into greatness

    6
    Reply
    • Armaments216

      5 years ago

      So time consuming going frame by frame to get the mechanics to look right on his delivery.

      1
      Reply
  5. dave huth

    5 years ago

    The only reason he was good was because it was his first year in the bigs. He is going to be one of the worst guys on the roster if he can stay on the team the whole year.

    Reply
  6. Luc 2

    5 years ago

    Nats fan here, we needed a lefty. So this is good hoping at least for a good left on left pitcher

    Reply
  7. DFForReal12

    5 years ago

    Seth Romero should be healthy, so with Braymer, Clay, and Romero in the mix, the lefty “thingy” should be covered..

    Reply
    • Luc 2

      5 years ago

      Romero or Braymer have to prove themselves in spring training first

      Reply
      • DFForReal12

        5 years ago

        #Truth

        Reply
  8. datrain021

    5 years ago

    $575k is what he would make in the majors, not his guarantee. If he is in the minors he would make less than that

    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      5 years ago

      it doesn’t seem like a split contract though

      Reply
    • Jeff Zanghi

      5 years ago

      I don’t think that’s true… that’s the case for minor league deals. But when you sign a guy to a ‘major League contact’ I’m pretty sure the whole thing is guaranteed. It doesn’t mention anything about being a split contract or anything like that… and I actually think that $575K is below the major League minimum. So if that’s the case — he’s obviously going to make the full $575K whether he’s on the Ml roster or not — and if he does spend the whole year in the majors, and it’s a 162 game season, I believe he’d actually wind up making slightly more than $575K as the league min is like $582K I believe.

      1
      Reply
      • Jeff Zanghi

        5 years ago

        Oh looks like I was mistaken (about the ML minimum) apparently it’s only $562K — but still I do believe, unless there’s more reporting about this being a split contract or something like that — that a ‘Major League Contact’ should mean that he’s guaranteed the whole amount whether he’s in AAA or the majors.

        Reply
      • Dorothy_Mantooth

        5 years ago

        Correct, Jeff. He is guaranteed this salary no matter if he pitches in the majors or the minors. Great deal for Clay; I hope he ends up paying dividends for the Nationals too. There is a lot of major league talent trapped down in the minors, some of whom never get the chance to show it. Clay hit the MiLB lottery.

        1
        Reply
  9. Rangers29

    5 years ago

    Here we have Sam Clay. He is your average Caucasian male.

    1
    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      5 years ago

      he seems to have a solid ammount of hair. the average dude would pay to have that.

      Reply
  10. JohnJasoJingleHeimerSchmidt

    5 years ago

    “While Major League deals for minor league free agents who have yet to make their Major League debut are admittedly rare, there’s a handful of them every winter.”

    Between him and Jason Vosler, we’ve had two in a one-week span. With teams trying to find value this winter, I imagine we’ll see more of these.

    2
    Reply
  11. Tom1968

    5 years ago

    Even better news CANO BUSTED AGAIN.

    1
    Reply
    • MoRivera 1999

      5 years ago

      No, every PED bust is bad for baseball. It’s a stain. “Better news” will be “Last PED Bust Ever.”

      2
      Reply
    • 123redsox

      5 years ago

      I think it’s official who the two best second basemen of that generation were with a clear-cut third…Pedroia and Utley. Then Kinsler… then maybe cano

      Reply
  12. Peart of the game

    5 years ago

    Nice move

    Reply
  13. dclivejazz

    5 years ago

    Maybe with the minor leagues being scaled back, we’ll see more of these. Although it’s not a split contract, it’s like a bridge contract. It becomes more affordable since the costs of operating the minor league system will be going down.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Astros To Promote Brice Matthews

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Recent

    Trade Deadline Outlook: New York Yankees

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Atlanta Braves

    Which Other Relievers Might The Orioles Shop?

    Lee Elia Passes Away

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Poll: Which Teams Should Make The Biggest Push For Jarren Duran?

    MLB Finalizes Home Run Derby Field

    Astros To Promote Brice Matthews

    Giants Outright Sergio Alcántara

    Joe Coleman Passes Away

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version