Oakland Athletics Trade Tyler Clippard: What’s next?
By Jamie Faue
Once again, Billy Beane is on the move with the trade game. It was reported today that the Oakland Athletics traded their relief pitcher, Tyler Clippard, and cash considerations to the New York Mets for the minor league right-handed pitcher, Casey Meisner. This is the second trade the team has made this week for more young talent after trading Scott Kazmir to the Houston Astros for minor leagues on Thursday.
Clippard, who the A’s traded for in the offseason as a revamp to the bullpen, has not worked out as well as the team anticipated. Clippard went 1-3 with a 2.79 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 17 saves in 37 appearances. Although, Clippard held his opponents’ batting average to .175 and left-handed batters to .100 while tallying 38 strikeouts, he gave up 21 walks, 25 hits, and blew four saves in 38.2 innings. Much like the Kazmir trade, dumping Clippard freed up money the A’s can use to keep players like Sonny Gray, Stephen Vogt, and Billy Burns around a little while longer.
More from Oakland Athletics
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- Oakland Athletics end perfect game, still lose Game 1 of Wild Card round
- Oakland Athletics: Jesus Luzardo will start Game 1 of Wild Card round
- Oakland Athletics clinch first AL West title since 2013
- Oakland Athletics: Can Jamb Lamb save the restructured infield?
Now let’s get to know the young man the team got from the Mets.
Meisner has spent most of his time in single-A with the Savannah Sand Gnats. With the Sand Gnats, Meisner went 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 12 starts. Then he was promoted to Advanced-A St. Lucie, where he went 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in six starts. Meisner has a combined 10-4 record with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 18 starts overall. Meisner has a long road ahead of him before he will be able to put on a green and gold jersey, but once called up, he will probably be either a third or fourth pitcher in the starting rotation. Even though the A’s could use a solid starter right now, Meisner is not major league ready.
With Clippard departing, the A’s will most likely hand the closing job over to either Eric O’Flaherty or Edward Mujica. While neither pitcher has been overly impressive this season, someone has to fill the void while Sean Doolittle still recovers from injury. Mujica has the better numbers with a 4.13 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 20 to five strikeout-walks ratio compared to O’Flaherty’s 5.57 ERA, 1.90 WHIP and a 14 to 13 strikeout-walk ratio.
There is also a possibility that former starting pitcher, Drew Pomeranz, may be handed the closing job should he stay in the bullpen. The A’s are in a pitching pickle right now with a starting position opening up after the Kazmir trade and with injuries to Jarrod Parker, Jesse Hahn, and A.J. Griffin who has been rehabilitating in the minors. The mess continues for Oakland this season with this trade and one more possibly on the way.
There has been talk of the A’s trading another offseason pick-up: Ben Zobrist. It is still unclear who the A’s would get in return for Zobrist and which team they will trade with as there are about four or five teams showing interest in him. Zobrist this season for Oakland has averaged .268, with six home runs, 20 doubles, two triples, 33 RBI’s and a .354 on base percentage. Zobrist has been a key factor to a struggling Oakland offense, so it would not be the best move for the A’s to trade him. Also, with an injury plagued team, it is helpful to have a player that can play almost all the positions on the field.
What do you think their next move is? Or will there be one at all?