Diamondbacks Sign Tyler Clippard To A Two-Year Deal
The Arizona Diamondbacks have been pursuing right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard pretty heavily in recent days, and it appears that they’ve gotten their man.
Don’t sleep on these Diamondbacks, man. Just in this offseason alone, they’ve added Zack Greinke, Shelby Miller and Jean Segura, after adding outfield slugger Yasmany Tomas prior to last season. That’s all in addition to National League MVP runner-up Paul Goldschmidt, and left fielder David Peralta, who isn’t a household name yet, but he will be if these Diamondbacks take off in 2016.
Clippard joins a bullpen that already boasts the likes of closer Brad Ziegler, who is coming off a 30-save season with a pristine 1.85 ERA, and right-handed reliever Daniel Hudson, who struck out 71 batters in 67.2 innings last year. The 30-year-old Clippard split last season between the A’s and the Mets, where he didn’t factor much into their postseason run, appearing eight times between all three playoff rounds, allowing 5 earned runs in 6.2 innings. Despite his forgettable postseason, Clippard struck out 64 batters in 71 innings between the two clubs in 2015 with a modest 2.92 ERA, but a very un-Clippard-like FIP of 4.27. Clippard’s FIP in 2014 with the Nationals was 2.75, which is what the Diamondbacks would love to be signing up for in 2016 and 2017.