The Yankees have traded Tyler Clippard to Washington in exchange for reliever Jonathan Albaladejo. This is a really puzzling move by a front office that gets more puzzling by the day. It is unclear why this move was necessary. It seems as if this team sold really low on Clippard.
Clippard had a rough year in 2007. After earning a promotion to the big leagues, he begin with a series of decent starts. The bottom soon fell out for him, and Tyler was sent back to AAA with a 6.33 ERA in the Majors. He continued to struggle and eventually earned another demotion to AA Trenton, where he posted a 5.40 ERA. It appears that the Yanks decided to give up on him just a year after Tyler established himself as a quality prospect. He did get hit in the Majors, but it takes time for finesse pitchers to adjust. He does not have an overpowering fastball. He needs to gain polish because his stuff alone is not good enough to dominate. Tyler needs to execute. He needed more time to develop. It was clear that his failures in the Majors messed with his head, which contributed to his struggles upon returning to the minors. He was simply not mentally ready to deal with failure in the bigs. That does not mean a 22 year old is finished as a prospect. He still owns an above average curveball and changeup. He still has shown good control, which should return with an offseason of mental rest. He is not on the level of Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy, or Horne, but he still projects to be a middle of the rotation guy. He has value and could potentially have helped the Yanks in 2008. He should not have been untouchable in the right deal, but this trade reeks of despiration send a guy out of town.
Albaladejo is a decent relief prospect. He throws hard and has put up solid but unspectacular minor league numbers. He had a Brian Bruney type 2007 cup of coffee with Washington, where he exceeded his minor league output, posting a 1.88 ERA in 14.1 innings. His career minor league ERA is 3.54, solid but unspectacular. This is a guy with a ton of talent. He might be able to put it together one day. The thing is that the Yankees already have a plethora of high upside relievers. This is just another face in that cluster.
If this team was going to give Clippard up, it should have gotten something more. At worst, he could have been filler to get something really good. Ablaladejo is not worth much. This team already has plenty of similar pitchers. This type is not hard to find. A decent starting prospect like Clippard is more difficult to pick up.
