Thursday, June 22, 2017

What the Yankees Can Do if “Tyler Clippard Sucks”


The whole “fill in the blank with the players name Sucks” campaign has really been a running joke here on the blog since the days of Stephen Drew manning second base in the Bronx. Then, admittedly, it was meant to be an insult because Drew was just absolutely terrible for New York but it has since evolved into more of a sarcastic way of saying that the player is struggling. Some players take these struggles and build on them and get better while others let the big lights, the media scrutiny and the fans get to them before folding under the pressure. Which one of these will Tyler Clippard be and what can the Yankees do if Tyler Clippard Sucks going forward? 

The Yankees have a few options, the first option should be to take Clippard out of these high-leverage situations. Let Clippard rebuild some of his confidence in the 6th inning or with a huge lead or deficit and stop letting him enter in close games for a while. Let Adam Warren have those big innings when he returns from his injury or let Dellin Betances have more than one inning, just don’t let Clippard have them for a while. He needs a confidence boost and letting games get away like he did on Monday against the Angels isn’t helping. 

If you don’t trust Clippard and his track record, and just for the record I do but playing Devil’s Advocate helps write articles and can be fun sometimes, then there seems to be plenty of presumably available relievers out there on the trade market. When looking at who could potentially be available and who isn’t the first thing you look at is the team’s record which will usually tell you if the team will be a buyer or a seller at the deadline. Then you look at that particular team’s bullpen for standout arms with good statistics which brought me to this list of arms the Yankees could potentially look at.  

Pat Neshek of the Philadelphia Phillies will be moved because at the time of this writing he is pitching to a sub-1.00 ERA while the Phillies are on pace for their worst season in the history of Major League Baseball. Not far behind the Phillies are the San Diego Padres in terms of wins and losses despite the efforts of 27-year old left-hander Brad Hand. Hand is under team control until 2020 though so this would likely require a nice package of prospects if he were to be made available. The final arm that looks all but likely to be traded will be right-hander Ryan Madson of the Oakland Athletics who has been pitching well out in the Oakland Coliseum. Entering this week Madson had pitched to a 2.63 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00. 

The Miami Marlins could make or break the trade deadline this year as the team seems to be undecided on whether they will be buyers or sellers. If the team buys then there are at least two arms that come off the potential trade board but if the team decides to sell the Yankees could look at one or both of former Yankees right-hander David Phelps and AJ Ramos. Phelps, like he was with the Yankees, has been the swingman for the Marlins since the Martin Prado trade three seasons ago while Ramos has posted huge strikeout numbers (12.4 K/9) in 2017 despite having an ERA over 4.00.


Stay tuned.

2 comments:

  1. Thank God, Cashman and Company didn't listen to you. The evil, the evil is gone from here!

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    1. Hey I am the first to admit when I whiff or strikeout. Especially when it's for the betterment of the team. To be fair a lot can change in a month, and this was written basically a month ago, but I'll take the L if the Yankees gain the W's in the end.

      Also, welcome to the site Dombo!

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