“The time has come to announce my retirement from baseball,” Clippard wrote, “Thank you to my parents, my wife, my friends, my teammates, my agent, my coaches and trainers, and everyone else who has supported me along the way!”

Clippard’s professional career began when he was selected in the ninth round of the 2003 draft by the Yankees. He eventually made his big league debut at the age of 22, starting six games for New York in 2007. The audition did not go well, as Clippard posted a 6.33 ERA and 6.68 FIP in 27 innings of work. He was traded to the Nationals that offseason and made just two appearances in the majors in 2008, allowing five runs on 12 hits and 7 walks in 10 1/3 innings of work across his pair of starts.

Clippard move to the bullpen ahead of the 2009 season, and the then 24-year-old righty quickly proved that relief work suited him. Clippard posted a sterling 2.69 ERA while striking out 27.3% of batters faced in 60 1/3 innings of work across 41 appearances. The 2009 season proved to be the start of the most successful stretch of Clippard’s career, as he would dominate toward the back of the bullpen in Washington for years to come.

Over the next five seasons, Clippard posted a 2.63 ERA, 48% better than league average by measure of ERA+, with a 3.24 FIP in 393 1/3 innings of work. Clippard struck out 29% of batters faced while walking 9.1%. He racked up 34 saves across those seasons, primarily coming from the 2012 season when he acted as the club’s closer. The stretch also included both of Clippad’s career All Star appearances. His first All Star nod came in 2011, when the righty posted a phenomenal 1.83 ERA across 88 1/3 innings, good for a whopping 209 ERA+. Clippard struck out 31.6% of batters faced that season while walking just 7.9%, resulting in a career-best 23.7 K-BB%. His 2014 season was nearly as strong, as the then-29-year-old righty posted a 2.18 ERA and 2.75 FIP in 70 1/3 innings of work en route to his second All Star game.

The 2015-17 seasons proved to be tumultuous ones for Clippard, as he suited up for six different teams across the three campaigns. After being traded from the Nationals to Oakland shortly after New Year’s in 2015, Clippard was shipped to the Mets at the trade deadline and signed a two-year deal with the Diamondbacks that offseason before finally returning to his original team in New York via trade at the 2016 deadline. His stay in New York lasted until shortly after the 2017 All Star break, when he was shipped to the White Sox. Chicago flipped Clippard to the Astros just one month later. While Clippard did not appear on the club’s postseason roster, he nonetheless received a World Series ring in 2017 as a member of the Astros’ championship club.

Despite the constant upheaval Clippard faced over those three seasons, his results remained above average: in 205 appearances across the 2015-17 campaigns, Clippard posted a 3.70 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 4.34 FIP and a 25.2% strikeout rate, though his walk rate jumped to 10.6% over that time. Now 33 years old and a veteran of eleven big league seasons, Clippard provided quality innings of relief to Toronto, Cleveland, Minnesota, and Arizona over the next four seasons (3.21 ERA and 3.96 FIP in 182 innings of work) before returning to the Nationals to close out his career.

In all, Clippard’s big league career concludes with a career 3.16 ERA in 807 appearances. The two-time All Star finished 212 games in his career with 74 saves and struck out 956 batters in 872 1/3 innings of work. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Clippard on his baseball career and wish him all the best as he moves on to his post-playing career.

AUGUST 23: The Nationals are designating reliever Tyler Clippard for assignment, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. The move frees an active roster spot for Erick Fedde, who is back from the 15-day injured list. The club also swapped out backup catchers, recalling Riley Adams from Triple-A Rochester while optioning Tres Barrera. Washington’s 40-man roster tally drops to 39.

A two-time All-Star, Clippard has been a durable and effective reliever for the bulk of his 16-year big league career. He spent an extended chunk of that run in the nation’s capital, pitching with the Nats between 2008-14 before bouncing throughout the league. The changeup specialist remained productive through 2020, but he’s had some injury woes over the past couple years. He lost a good chunk of last season with the Diamondbacks due to a capsule sprain. Clippard returned late in the year and posted a solid 3.20 ERA over 25 1/3 innings, but his peripherals weren’t especially impressive.

The 37-year-old returned to Washington on a minor league deal over the winter. He impressed with Rochester, posting a 2.23 ERA with an excellent 31.5% strikeout percentage through 40 1/3 frames. That earned him another big league call last month, but he quickly suffered a groin strain that sent him to the injured list. Clippard returned a couple weeks ago, but the Nats moved on after just four MLB appearances. He tossed five innings of four-run ball with four strikeouts and walks apiece, averaging a career-low 87.5 MPH on his fastball.

Washington will place the veteran on waivers in the next few days. If he goes unclaimed, Clippard would have the right to elect free agency and look for another opportunity elsewhere. If he lands with a new organization by September 1 — either via waiver claim or new free agent deal upon clearing waivers — he’d be eligible for postseason play this season.

The news on Rainey is as surprising as it is unfortunate. He wasn’t even on the injured list, nor had there been any indication that an injury of this serious nature was being looked into. The UCL is the ligament that is repaired by Tommy John surgery. While the Nats haven’t announced that Rainey will undergo surgery or any timetable for his absence, the fact that he has been immediately placed on the 60-day IL suggests that they expect him to be out of action for the next two months at a minimum.

The 29-year-old was seemingly in the midst of a breakout season, throwing 30 innings with a 3.30 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 31.6% ground ball rate. He had climbed up the club’s bullpen chart to become the closer, racking up three saves last year and 12 here in 2022.

The Nationals are now almost a year into the roster teardown that they started at last year’s deadline. As such, they’re enduring a miserable campaign that has them currently 30-59, tied with Oakland for the worst record in the majors. Rainey was one of the few bright spots of the year but also stood out as a potential trade chip. He has three more years of club control after this one, but as a relief pitcher on a bad team, there was still a chance of him getting moved, which won’t happen now.

Rainey qualified for arbitration for the first time last winter as a Super Two player and is playing this season on a salary of $860K, slightly above the $700K league minimum. He should be in line for a raise, despite this injury setback, based on his work in the first few months of the season. If he does indeed require surgery and will miss the majority of the 2023 campaign, there’s a possibility that the Nationals won’t tender him a contract. Though they could also keep him around given that he would come with two further seasons of control beyond that.

As for Clippard, 37, this will be his 16th MLB season, once he gets into a game. He should be a familiar face to the fans in Washington, as he pitched for the club from 2008 to 2014, in addition to spending time with the Yankees, A’s, Mets, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Astros, Cleveland, Blue Jays and Twins. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he’s pitched 36 1/3 innings this year in Triple-A with a 2.48 ERA, 32.2% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate and 30.1% ground ball rate. He should provide the club with a veteran presence and could be a trade candidate if he pitches well in the majors.

As the MLBPA announced at the onset of the most recent offseason, there were 188 players who became Article XX(B) free agents. The majority of those players signed Major League contracts. A handful retired, and some have yet to sign a contract at all. There were still more than two dozen players who signed minor league contracts, however, which makes them subject to the new uniform opt-out dates. Several of those players — Marwin Gonzalez, Matt Moore and Wily Peralta, to name a few — have already had their contracts selected to the Major League roster. Others signed their minor league deal after March 28, meaning they’re not covered under the uniform opt-out provision.

By my count, there are a dozen players who qualified as Article XX(B) free agents, signed minor league deals on or before March 28, and remain with those organizations but not on the 40-man roster. Each of the following veterans, then, will have the opportunity to become a free agent Sunday if they’re not called up to the current organization’s big league roster:

• Tyler Clippard, RHP, Nationals: The 37-year-old Clippard had a strong 2019 season in Cleveland and pitched brilliantly with Minnesota in 2020. His 2021 campaign with the D-backs was solid but truncated by a strained capsule in his right shoulder. He missed nearly four months to begin the year but pitched to a 3.20 ERA in 25 1/3 innings upon activation — albeit with subpar strikeout and walk rates (19.8% and 9.9%, respectively). He’s had a rough go in Triple-A Rochester so far, yielding seven runs on six hits and a whopping 11 walks in 8 1/3 innings. He’s also picked up a dozen strikeouts.
• Austin Romine, C, Angels: Romine is 2-for-15 with a pair of singles so far in Triple-A Salt Lake. He’s never provided much with the bat, but the longtime Yankees backup is regarded as a quality defender and receiver. He spent the 2021 season with the Cubs but only logged 62 plate appearances thanks to a sprained left wrist that landed him on the 60-day injured list for a significant portion of the season. Romine hit .217/.242/.300 when healthy last year and is a lifetime .238/.277/.358 hitter in 1313 Major League plate appearances.
• Billy Hamilton, CF, Mariners: At 31 years old, the former top prospect is what he is now: an elite defender and baserunner who’s never been able to get on base consistently enough to capitalize on his 80-grade speed. Hamilton slashed .220/.242/.378 in 135 plate appearances with the White Sox last season and is out to a 7-for-32 start with one walk and 11 strikeouts so far with the Mariners’ top affiliate. Hamilton has four seasons of 55-plus stolen bases under his belt, but he also has a career .293 OBP  that’s gotten even worse (.269) over the past three seasons (524 plaste appearances).
• Blake Parker, RHP, Cardinals: Parker, 36, has yielded three runs in 7 1/3 Triple-A frames but is brandishing a far more impressive 11-to-1 K/BB ratio. He split the past two seasons between Philadelphia and Cleveland, pitching to a combined 3.02 ERA with a 24.4% strikeout rate against a 9.1% walk rate. Parker has had an up-and-down career since debuting with the Cubs as a 27-year-old rookie in 2012, but the cumulative results are solid. He carries a career 3.47 ERA with 34 saves and 47 holds. When Parker’s splitter is working well, he can be a very effective late-inning option.
• Derek Holland, LHP, Red Sox: The veteran southpaw has provided innings, but not necessarily at quality since transitioning into a bullpen role in 2019. Last season he appeared in 39 games for the Tigers, tossing 49 2/3 innings with a 5.07 ERA/3.96 FIP. Holland’s time with Triple-A Worcester hasn’t been smooth, as he has a 5.79 ERA and six walks over 9 1/3 innings.
• Steven Souza Jr., OF, Mariners: Due to an ugly knee injury and some struggles at the plate, Souza hasn’t been a truly productive big leaguer since 2017. Looking to revive his career with the Mariners, Souza has hit .200/.383/.333 over 60 PA with Triple-A Tacoma.
• Kevin Pillar, OF, Dodgers: This season marks Pillar’s first taste of Triple-A ball since 2014, and the veteran outfielder is overmatching pitchers to the tune of a .313/.415/.627 slash line over 82 plate appearances. One would imagine this performance will earn Pillar a look in Los Angeles or perhaps another team if the Dodgers don’t select his contract. Pillar’s minor league deal guarantees him a $2.5MM salary if he receives a big league call-up, which could be a factor for a Dodgers club that may be trying to stay under the third tier ($270MM) of the luxury tax threshold.
• Cam Bedrosian, RHP, Phillies: After signing a minor league deal with Philadelphia last July, Bedrosian posted a 4.35 ERA over 10 1/3 innings with the club despite recording almost as many walks (seven) as strikeouts (eight). The righty inked a new minors deal with the Phillies over the winter but has yet to pitch this season due to injury.
• Shelby Miller, RHP, Yankees: The former All-Star pitched well with the Cubs’ and Pirates’ Triple-A affiliates in 2021, and he has kept up that strong Triple-A performance now working as a full-time reliever.  Over eight innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barres, Miller has a 2.25 ERA with outstanding strikeout (31.3%) and walk (3.1%) rates. He also hasn’t allowed any homers, a notable stat for a pitcher who has had great trouble containing the long ball over the last few seasons.
• Matt Carpenter, INF, Rangers: Carpenter got a late start to Spring Training, and upon Opening Day, he expressed a desire to take the necessary time to get himself up to speed. Through 52 plate appearances in Triple-A, Carpenter has slashed an improved .239/.327/.457 with a pair of home runs. While not standout numbers, they are an improvement over the .203/.235/.346 slash line Carpenter posted in 901 PA from 2019-21 with the Cardinals.
• Carlos Martinez, RHP, Giants: Another former Cardinal looking for a fresh start, Martinez has yet to pitch for Triple-A Sacramento, as he is still rehabbing from the thumb surgery he underwent last July. With injuries and a nasty bout of COVID-19 factoring into matters, Martinez has only a 6.95 ERA over 102 1/3 big league innings since the start of the 2020 season.
• Keone Kela, RHP, Diamondbacks: Kela has also been ravaged by injuries over the last two seasons, including Tommy John surgery last May. Given the usual TJ recovery timeline, Kela isn’t likely to be a factor for the D’Backs until at least midseason.

Of course, players remain free to negotiate additional out clauses into their minor league contracts. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports, for instance, that lefty Adam Morgan has an opt-out provision in his contract with the Astros today. Morgan doesn’t have enough service time to qualify as an Article XX(B) free agent, but he’ll nevertheless have the opportunity to become a free agent Sunday if he doesn’t like his chances of eventually being added to Houston’s roster.

Clippard first pitched for Washington from 2008-14, a stint that solidified Clippard as a solid and sometimes elite bullpen arm.  The righty posted a 2.68 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate, and 9.8% walk rate over his 464 previous innings in a Nats uniform, twice reaching the NL All-Star team and operating as either a workhorse setup man or (in 2012) as a closer.  The two sides parted ways in January 2015, when the Nationals traded Clippard to the A’s for Yunel Escobar.

That swap kicked off a nomadic stretch for Clippard, as he saw action with nine different teams from 2015-21.  Despite the lack of stability, Clippard was still posting effective numbers, with a 3.47 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate, and 9.0% walk rate in 376 1/3 frames in those seven seasons.  There was a bit of a bump in home run rate (8.2% with Washington and 10.0% elsewhere), which isn’t a huge surprise given Clippard’s extreme fly-ball tendencies.

Never a high-velocity arm even in his prime years, Clippard has relied on soft contact and an excellent changeup as the keys to his success.  Clippard’s strikeout totals have declined over the last four years, however, and his fastball averaged only 88.9 mph over 25 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks in 2021.

Clippard got a late start late season, as a shoulder injury kept him from any big league action until July 21.  Arizona declined their side of a $3.5MM mutual option for the 2022 season, thus sending Clippard into free agency entering his age-37 campaign.

Between the additions of Steve Cishek, Sean Doolittle, and now Clippard, the Nationals have bolstered their young relief corps with plenty of veteran experience.  Given the amount of uncertainty in the D.C. bullpen, Clippard probably stands a pretty good chance of breaking camp with the team and even getting a crack at some high-leverage innings.  It remains to be seen exactly how the Nats will line up their relievers in late-game situations, or whether or not manager Davey Martinez will go purely situational rather than have a set order for the seventh, eighth, or even ninth innings.

11:34 am: Diamondbacks right-hander Tyler Clippard has been formally declared a free agent, per an announcement from the MLBPA. Clippard’s contract with Arizona had a $3.5MM mutual option for the 2022 season that came with a $500K buyout.

D-backs general manager Mike Hazen told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro yesterday that he could not yet say whether Clippard’s option would be picked up or bought out. It’s not immediately clear which side declined the option — Clippard had the right to decline before the D-backs made their intent known — but the result is the same: Clippard will receive that $500K buyout and return to the free-agent market in search of a new opportunity.

Clippard, 37 in February, is a perennially effective and perennially underrated reliever who’ll now likely look to sign what would be a fifth consecutive one-year deal. The veteran changeup specialist signed a one-year pact in Arizona last year, suffered a shoulder strain during Spring Training, and spent nearly four months on the injured list. However, when healthy, Clippard had another generally productive run. In 25 1/3 innings, he yielded a solid 3.20 ERA with just three home runs allowed.

That said, Clippard’s 2021 season wasn’t without its red flags — even beyond the injury. This year’s 18.9% strikeout rate was his lowest since 2008, while his 9.9% walk rate was his highest since 2017. Clippard has never been a flamethrower, but his 89.1 mph average fastball this season was also a career-low and ranked as the 16th-lowest mark among 344 relievers with at least 20 innings pitched.

It should also be pointed out that while Clippard and that signature changeup have historically dominated opposing left-handed batters, that was far from the case in 2021. Rather, Clippard was clubbed for a .279/.354/.581 line by opposing lefties. Clippard’s dominance over lefties and similarly (and more expected) sharp results against right-handers has long been one of his most desirable assets, so this year’s struggles in that regard could further dampen his market.

There wasn’t much suspense in either decision, as Kelly had a pretty solid year in his return from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.  Kelly posted a 4.44 ERA over 158 innings, delivering his usual quality walk rate to help offset a lot of hard contact and a below-average strikeout rate.  The Diamondbacks are hoping Kelly can match or better this performance in 2022 as the team looks for more stability in the rotation.

Next season will be the final year of Arizona’s control over Kelly, as per the two-year, $5.5MM contract with two club options that he signed back in December 2018.  With this final option year now exercised, the deal will work out to a four-year, $14.5MM pact.

Calhoun signed a two-year, $16MM free agent to join his hometown D’Backs during the 2019-20 offseason, and hit .226/.338/.526 with 16 home runs over 228 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 season.  That solid performance was followed up by an injury-plagued 2021, as Calhoun underwent a knee surgery in Spring Training and then a left hamstring surgery less than two months later.  His rehab from that second procedure was extended by a setback, and Calhoun also spent another month on the IL with a strain in that same left hamstring late in the year.

All told, Calhoun appeared in only 51 games and hit .235/.297/.373 over 182 PA.  Calhoun might have been a trade chip had he been healthy, either back in July at the trade deadline or perhaps this winter, if he’d hit well enough for the Diamondbacks to exercise that club option.  Instead, the D’Backs will buy out that $9MM option for $2MM and Calhoun will hit the market in advance of his age-34 season.

A return to Arizona could be unlikely, as while Hazen praised Calhoun for being “awesome for us in and out of the clubhouse,” the D’Backs already have quite a few left-handed outfield options.  Calhoun hit both left-handed and right-handed pitching pretty evenly for a lot of his career, but over the last three seasons has developed more traditional splits.  It seems likely that Calhoun will catch on with another team in need of some veteran pop from the left side of the plate, and Calhoun’s right field glovework has remained pretty good, even amidst all his leg injuries in 2021.

SEPTEMBER 6: The Diamondbacks are planning to select the contract of reliever Brandyn Sittinger, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Arizona will need to make corresponding active and 40-man roster moves.

Sittinger originally entered pro ball as a 17th-round pick of the Tigers in 2016 out of Division II Ashland University. The right-hander spent the next couple seasons in the Detroit organization but was released in July 2019, having topped out at Double-A. After being let go, he landed with the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League, where he spent a couple months. He impressed D-Backs’ evaluators enough in indie ball to land a minor league deal over the 2019-20 offseason.

Because of last year’s canceled minor league season, Sittinger didn’t pitch professionally. He was assigned to Double-A Amarillo to open the 2021 campaign and earned a bump to Triple-A Reno in mid-June. Across the two levels, Sittinger has worked to a solid 4.03 ERA over 38 innings. He has punched out a very impressive 32.9% of opponents across the top two levels, although he has struggled a bit with walks upon getting moved up to Reno. The Diamondbacks will give the 27-year-old an opportunity to try to carry over that bat-missing success against MLB hitters.

Arizona signed Clippard over the offseason. The generally durable righty went down with a capsule sprain in his throwing shoulder during Spring Training, though, and he’s missed the entire season to date. Clippard’s return should aid an Arizona bullpen that has been one of the league’s worst, although it’s obviously far too late in a lost season to make much difference in the standings.

In theory, a contending club could swing a trade for Clippard based on his strong track record. He won’t have much of an opportunity to demonstrate he’s back to peak form, though, with the trade deadline just nine days away. He’s playing out the year on a $2.25MM salary, just under $900K of which remains to be paid.

Atlanta picked up Tice in a small trade with the Blue Jays in early June. They’ll lose him a little more than six weeks later, with the reliever having made just one major league appearance in a Braves uniform. He’s thrown eight innings of four-run ball between Toronto and Atlanta this season, his first with any big league experience. Tice has a 4.20 ERA across 45 career innings at Triple-A, striking out a fine 24.0% of batters faced but walking a lofty 13.7% of opponents. The 25-year-old has a pair of minor league option years remaining beyond this season, so he can be kept in the high minors for a while so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster.

Young, who was selected 43rd overall in the 2015 draft, was one of the better pitching prospects in the Arizona system coming up through the minors. He made his major league debut in 2019, working to a decent 3.56 ERA/4.68 SIERA across 17 appearances (including 15 starts). The 27-year-old hasn’t managed to build off that fine initial showing to this point. Since the start of 2020, Young has tossed 88 innings of 5.83 ERA/5.91 FIP ball. While he’s thrown a fair amount of strikes, Young hasn’t missed many bats (19.4% strikeout rate) and has been plagued by the long ball (2.3 HR/9).

The D-Backs will have a week to trade Young or expose him to outright waivers. He still has all three option years remaining. If another club is willing to a 40-man roster spot, they could stash him in the minors as a depth option capable of working multiple innings.

Devenski was another offseason addition for the Diamondbacks, though he had to settle for a minor league contract after an injury-wrecked 2020 with the Astros. He threw just 3 2/3 innings before undergoing elbow surgery last September.

At his best, Devenski was a multi-inning weapon in Houston from 2016-17, during which he combined for a stingy 2.38 ERA and posted a 21.8 K-BB percentage in 189 innings. But Devenski hasn’t been the same since. Between that excellent two-season run and last year, he managed a 4.56 ERA with a K-BB percentage of 18.0 over 116 1/3 frames from 2018-19. However, he did throw seven scoreless, four-hit innings with seven strikeouts against three walks this spring.

That rules Clippard out for at least all of April. Quite likely, the 36-year-old will be sidelined deep into May even in a best case scenario, as he’ll need some time to build arm strength back after the layoff. It’s a tough blow to a D-Backs’ bullpen that expected to regularly feature Clippard in a set-up capacity. The 11-year veteran signed a $2.25MM contract with Arizona over the offseason.

It’s also completely unfamiliar territory for Clippard, who has incredibly never gone on the injured list during his MLB career. Other than the 2020 shortened season (when he pitched in nearly half the Twins’ games), Clippard has thrown 60+ innings out of the bullpen every year since 2009. That streak will now come to an end, although there remains hope he’ll be able to log some rather significant work in the late spring and summer.

Fortunately, it seems as though Pomeranz and the Padres have avoided the worst, though it isn’t yet known if Pomeranz’s absence from spring games could require some extra ramp-up time via an injured-list stint at the beginning of the season.  The left-hander’s first season in San Diego was a dominant one, as Pomeranz posted a 1.45 ERA/3.11 SIERA and a whopping 39.7K% over 18 2/3 innings in the regular season, and then four scoreless innings over five games during San Diego’s postseason run.

More from the relief pitching beat…

• Tyler Clippard didn’t retire any of seven batters faced during yesterday’s outing, and the Diamondbacks said the veteran reliever was suffering from right shoulder discomfort.  “He just felt the discomfort as the inning was building,” manager Torey Lovullo told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and other reporters, adding that more will be known about Clippard’s condition after examinations from team trainers.  Clippard signed a one-year deal worth $2.25MM in guaranteed money last month, and is expected to work as a setup man behind Joakim Soria or perhaps grab some save opportunities himself.  [UPDATE: Clippard is getting an MRI on his shoulder, The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan tweets.]
• Andre Scrubb was removed from the Astros’ Grapefruit League game yesterday due to right shoulder soreness.  Catcher Martin Maldonado summoned a trainer to the mound to check on Scrubb, and manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome) that Maldonado “noticed a change in his velocity.”  More will be known about Scrubb’s condition after medical tests are taken, though even a brief injury setback could hurt his chances of winning a job on the Astros’ Opening Day roster.  The righty made his MLB debut last season and posted a 1.90 ERA over 23 2/3 innings with Houston, but had a lot of control issues, recording almost as many walks (20) as strikeouts (24).
• After some notable bullpen departures in the offseason, the Braves might yet need to add some relief pitching at the trade deadline, though “We’re going to need some good stories there to have a deep group,” president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  With Shane Greene still unsigned and Darren O’Day and Mark Melancon now pitching elsewhere, others “all get elevated now into more important roles, so now everybody moves up a little bit.”  Namely, A.J. Minter, Chris Martin, Tyler Matzek, and (perhaps most importantly) prospective closer Will Smith will all be asked to match or better their 2020 numbers.  The Braves have some other interesting relief names on hand, but Anthopoulos said “we need some of these other young guys to take a step” in order to have a satisfactory amount of depth.

This will be the second stint in the desert for Clippard, who was a member of the Diamondbacks in 2016. The 36-year-old has also appeared in the majors with nine other organizations during what has been a successful career. Long a durable late-game option, Clippard has overcome a paltry 28.1 percent groundball rate to log a 3.13 ERA/3.47 SIERA with an above-average strikeout rate (27.1) across 842 innings since his 2007 debut.

Although he only averaged 89.2 mph on his fastball in Minnesota last year, Clippard continued to record impressive production. He put up a 2.77 ERA/3.52 SIERA in 26 frames, owing largely to terrific strikeout and walk numbers. He fanned hitters at a 26.5 percent rate and walked hitters just 4.1 percent of the time – a career-best figure. Clippard also fared better than most in a large number of Statcast categories.

The Diamondbacks have been mostly quiet since their disappointing 2020 season ended, but they have made a few notable additions to their roster this month. Before agreeing to terms with Clippard, they signed fellow veterans Joakim Soria and Asdrubal Cabrera. Clippard and Soria figure to be important parts of a bullpen that finished a subpar 18th in ERA (4.60) a year ago.

1:32pm: In addition to Colome, the Twins have shown interest in re-signing Clippard and in signing lefty Justin Wilson, Hayes further reports. Minnesota has also at least gauged the price tags of Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, Joakim Soria and Trevor Rosenthal, though the latter two could be seeking more than the Twins are comfortable committing to them, Hayes adds. It’s a wide slate of candidates, but the Twins could sign multiple relievers to bolster their relief corps.

9:07am: It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Twins, but they’re still pursuing upgrades after finally agreeing to a new deal with designated hitter Nelson Cruz last night. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Twins have interest in adding Alex Colome to their bullpen and are still looking at options to fill out their rotation. Twins fans hoping to see the club roll the dice on a Mike Foltynewicz rebound after watching his recent showcase may not get their wish, though, as SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson tweets that a signing is “more unlikely than likely.” Wolfson does suggest that the Twins have a current offer out to a reliever.

This isn’t the first time the Twins have been tied to Colome. However, in the month since that initial link, they’ve spent a combined $31.5MM on Cruz, Andrelton Simmons and J.A. Happ, so maintained interest in one of the better relievers remaining on the market wasn’t necessarily a given. The Twins currently project to open the season with a payroll in the $123MM range, but they’d have been north of $130MM last year prior to prorated salaries.

Owner Jim Pohlad recently voiced a vastly different mindset than many of his counterparts throughout the league, telling reporters he’s not looking at ways to “make up” for lost revenue from the 2020 season by slashing payroll (link via La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune).

“We don’t really think of it like that,” Pohlad said in a Zoom call. “I’m not sure if we can ever make up for it. None of our objective includes trying to make up for what happened in 2020. It was significant. It was devastating. And you have to accept that as a loss going forward and not make it a goal to recover those losses either from fans or by affecting our payroll. That’s not the mind-set we have been in at all.”

The Twins’ recent activity reflects that outlook, and a deal with Colome would only further illustrate that stance. The 32-year-old spent the past two seasons as the closer for the division-rival White Sox. In 83 1/3 innings with the South Siders, he’s pitched to a 2.27 ERA and racked up 42 saves, although the rest of his numbers don’t look as dominant. Colome’s 20.9 percent strikeout rate is below-average in today’s game, and he’s registered a rather pedestrian 3.78 FIP and 4.42 SIERA.

With the White Sox, Colome leaned aggressively on a two-pitch arsenal, throwing four-seamers and cutters exclusively — the latter nearly thrice as often as the former. In 2019, he got away with that mix despite giving up far too much hard contact, but he seemed to improve his utilization of that two-pitch mix in 2020.

Colome’s hard-hit rate fell sharply, from 41.2 percent to 32.8 percent, and only two of the balls put into play against him registered as “barreled balls,” per Statcast’s definition. Opponents’ average exit velocity against Colome plummeted from 91.3 percent in 2019 — one of the highest marks in baseball — to a lower-than-average 87.2 mph in 2020. And, despite registering one of the lowest strikeout percentages of his career last season, Colome actually posted career-high marks in swinging-strike rate and in opponents’ chase rate, which surely creates some optimism about his ability to rebound in the strikeout department.

For all the focus on the Twins’ rotation this winter, it’s the bullpen that’s a more dire area of need at the moment. The quartet of Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda and Happ gives the Twins four solid options atop the starting staff, but the bullpen has quietly been depleted. Minnesota lost Trevor May to the Mets and Matt Wisler (who was non-tendered) to the Giants. Veterans Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard, meanwhile, are both free agents and remain unsigned. Taylor Rogers is still the favorite for saves in Minnesota for now, although Colome would give manager Rocco Baldelli another ninth-inning option with some experience. The fact that Baldelli and Colome know each other well from their time together with the Rays can’t hurt the Twins’ chances at a deal.

“We’re not done.  We still have some flexibility, we’re still having ongoing conversations, we still see many ways we can improve this team both from a qualitative standpoint and from a depth standpoint,” Levine said.

As you might expect, Levine declined to get into detail about many names, but did note that the Twins are “staying in touch” with reliever Tyler Clippard and “are in constant conversation” with Nelson Cruz’s representatives.  Interestingly, Wolfson opened the pre-interview portion of the podcast by noting that talks have been “pretty dead” between Cruz and the Twins, and it has been some time since the club presented Cruz with an offer.  As Wolfson puts it, however, “all it takes is one new call” to reignite talks, as both sides are pretty familiar with each other’s positions.  As has been the case all offseason, Cruz’s situation might not be resolved until there is firmer clarity on whether or not the National League will use the DH in 2021.

In terms of specific needs, the Twins are always interested in more arms (“If in doubt, add more pitching,” Levine said), particularly as pitchers re-adjust to throwing more innings in the wake of the abbreviated 2020 season.  Beyond pitchers, Levine is open to all possibilities on the position-player front, due to Minnesota’s versatile roster.

“When we look at the free agent market, we do not feel limited in terms of bats that we can go recruit….We do have such amazing flexibility within our team [that] you could almost recruit a player at about any position on the field and still make it work,” the GM said.

The Twins are also exploring options on the trade market, and Levine said that technically, there aren’t any so-called untouchable players on the roster — as a general principle, the organization has to be open to anything should an opportunity arise, but obviously the Twins are “less inclined” to shop or discuss certain top-tier players and prospects.  Levine also added that the Twins had received trade interest in “over 30 distinct players” within the organization over the last year, which the general manager considered a positive endorsement of Minnesota’s talent depth at both the Major League and minor league levels.