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Clippard excited to join D-backs, glad to have contract settled
The timing of his free-agency job search caused a little nervousness for relief pitcher Tyler Clippard, but he couldn't have been happier with the end result.
Clippard, a two-time National League All-Star and one of the most durable and effective relievers in baseball over the past nine years, reached agreement with the Diamondbacks on a two-year, $12.25 million contract on Tuesday.
General manager Dave Stewart said Brad Ziegler will go into the 2016 season as the D-backs' closer, but Clippard will fill a key late-inning role. Clippard, who has pitches 264 1/3 bullpen innings over the past six season while compiling a 2.67 ERA and striking out 10.1 batters per nine innings, in just fine with that arrangement.
"At this point in my career, I want to contribute at any level the team needs me to contribute," said Clippard, who turns 31 on Sunday. "I don't really have expectations as far as when I'm going to be used, but I'm OK with that because I know what it takes to win championships, and to have a good bullpen, everybody has to have that same mind set."
Clippard spent the bulk of his career as an elite set-up man with the Washington Nationals but split last season with the Oakland A's and New York Mets, compiling a 5-4 record with 19 saves and 2.92 ERA.
He became a free agent after pitching for the Mets in the World Series and acknowledged that the process was eye-opening for him.
"If you would have told me November 1 that I wouldn't signing until February 6 or whenever it was, I would have been very surprised by that," he said.
"You're sitting at home in February and usually you're working out and you kind of have a vision in mind of where am I going to get housing, where am I going to be and you're making plans, and there are really no plans to be made because I didn't have a home yet. When it gets that close to spring training and you don't have a job, it can be a little bit stressful in that sense."
But Clippard said the Diamondbacks were one of the teams that were on his radar all along.
"I wanted to be with someone who was going to contend, and not just possibly contend, but being pretty sure on my end that I was going to be with a really good team. And Arizona is definitely that.
"I very much was excited to watch them play last year. All the little intangible things that a championship caliber team does well, the Diamondbacks did last year and are going to have that moving forward. And they added some really key pieces to what was missing from the puzzle last year."
Stewart believes Clippard is one of those key pieces, fitting into a bullpen that includes Ziegler, Daniel Hudson, Randall Delgado, Josh Collmenter and left-hander Andrew Chafin. While there were lots of front-office discussions about internal options to round out the staff, it was decided that Clippard was a better solution.
Stewart said last week's trade to acquire infielder Jean Segura while offloading a major portion of Aaron Hill's contract was significant in freeing up the money to sign Clippard.
"With everything else that we've done to stabilize ourselves for this year and moving forward, we felt that a pitcher that has been in those roles and has a track record of having done the job was the way we should go," Stewart said.
"The innings that we had concerns with, the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, he's got a great track record, done outstanding work over the years, and we think he'll be a great fit in addition to the guys we have down there."
The signing likely leaves one spot to be claimed in the bullpen, with left-hander Matt Reynolds and young right-handers Enrique Burgos, Silvino Bracho and Evan Marshall among those in the mix. But Stewart didn't rule out an additional acquisition.
"We can always be better," he said. "We are one step better by having Tyler Clippard as part of our bullpen. We've got a lot of good options to fill the rest of our roles. ... But I think I'm like anybody else. If you can improve, and there always is room for improvement, then you improve."
