Guardians, Emmanuel Clase Discussing Contract Extension

4:55PM: There isn’t an agreement in place, Clase’s agent tells Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, though the two sides have been discussing an extension.  Like most players, Clase has set Opening Day as a deadline for talks, so he can focus on baseball once the season begins.

4:17PM: The Guardians have agreed to a contract extension with right-hander Emmanuel Clase, El Extra Base’s Daniel Alvarez-Montes reports (Twitter link).  Clase is represented by Nova Sports Agency.

The Cleveland organization has long made a strategy of trying to lock up promising young players early in their careers, and the Clase deal represents another such move.  Clase was already under team control through the 2026 season, and wasn’t scheduled for arbitration eligibility until the 2023-24 offseason.  It can be assumed that the extension will give the Guardians some control over at least one of Clase’s free agent years, while also giving the team some cost certainty rather than face an escalating price tag through Clase’s arb-eligible seasons.

Considering how save totals often lead to big arbitration raises for closers, the Guardians could be making a canny move in extending Clase now, as the 24-year-old looks like one of the sport’s most promising young relievers.  Pitching in his first full season in 2021, Clase dominated batters to the tune of a 1.29 ERA, 67.6% grounder rate, 26.5% strikeout rate, and 5.7% walk rate over 69 2/3 innings.  Clase finished in the upper echelon of basically every Statcast metric in the book, while also averaging 100.3 mph on his fastball.  If that wasn’t enough, Clase complemented that great fastball with a devastating slider.

The result was a fifth-place finish in AL Rookie Of The Year voting, and a nice bounce-back for Clase following a lost 2020 season.  Clase and Delino DeShields were acquired from the Rangers for Corey Kluber in December 2019, with Clase seen as the cornerstone of the deal from Cleveland’s perspective and possibly a closer of the future.  However, Clase didn’t pitch at all in 2020 due to a teres major muscle strain and then an 80-game PED suspension.

Those twin issues both sidelined Clase and cost him a year of service time, extending the Guardians’ control through 2026.  It is possible that contributed to Clase’s decision to take the extension and lock in some guaranteed money now, giving Clase his first big professional payday.

Clase moved into the full-time closer role last season as James Karinchak began to struggle after a hot start, and Karinchak’s recent injury concerns (also with a teres major issue) removed any doubt about Clase continuing as the Guardians’ top choice for the ninth inning.  Clase with now headline a bullpen that features veteran Bryan Shaw and converted outfielder Anthony Gose as the top set-up options until Karinchak is ready.

The extension also makes Clase the only long-term commitment on the Guards’ books, as not a single other player is guaranteed money beyond the 2022 season.  While a lack of spending this winter has led to a lot of consternation amongst Cleveland fans, the Guardians have also been exploring an even bigger extension with star Jose Ramirez.