Tyler Clippard, Andy Phillips Freed

The Yankee Clippard is no longer. In lieu of a deal for a certain Minnesotan lefty, the Yanks have sent Triple-A pitching prospect Tyler Clippard to the Nats for Jonathan Albaladejo, a hard-throwing righty reliever with excellent control. It seems like a good deal for both teams, if not a steal for NY. There's no room for Clippard on the Yanks in 2008; he failed to stick last season when given a shot. He's got a far better chance to find a place in the majors in DC. Albaladejo—sound it out!—jumped all the way from AA to the Bigs last season, improving all the way. He's just 24. Stats here. The Yanks need to improve in the pen, especially if Joba goes to the rotation. A good start.

In less pleasant news, Andy Phillips was DFA'ed to clear room on the 40-man roster. The breaks have never seemed to fall his way. Last season, in limited duty, he hit better than .290 in the majors. Perhaps he'll catch on elsewhere. It's possible he returns to the Bombers, but behind Duncan, Betemit, and Giambi on the 1b depth chart. There's not much room. In a different situation, under a different manager, things might have turned out differently for AP. In all the talk of hundred million dollar deals, it's easy to forget stories like this, about guys working for the League minimium, trying to stick somewhere, as their careers slowly slip away.

Comments

[Mike YF]

Seems like a decent trade, but Clippard's so young he could still prove to be valuable. Hopefully he has a good big league career ahead of him.

[Atheose]

Al-ba-la-de-jo. Hooray!

It's strange that he had a 4.17 ERA and 1.227 WHIP at AAA, but after moving him to AAA and MLB he was excellent. Definitely a great pick-up by the Yanks to improve one of their weakest areas.

[SF]

That looks like a really nice deal for the Yankees. Clippard was the definition of expendable.

[YF]

So maybe here's the benefit of Hank becoming the public face; while he's keeping the team on the back page, Cash has a bit more space to work out a nice deal under the radar. But who really knows?

[AndrewYF]

This guy is humongous. Just another Chris Britton. But who knows, with Torre finally and mercifully out of the picture, maybe those two will get a chance.

[Lar]

Maybe he'll be an Oki, in the "coming out of nowhere" kind of way..

[AndrewYF]

Also, I still think the Yankees should go for Huston Street. He would be great for them, as a setup man and then future closer.

[Nick-YF]

I'm going to miss the pimply version of Thom Yorke. It seems like a nice deal for both teams.

[Brad]

Andrew, that's an excellent point. If the Yanks are going to lose prospects for Haren as a consolation prize to Boston's maybe getting Santana, they should definitely make sure an Oakland reliever or two are in the package. Even Embree is better than most of what is in the Yankee pen right now. They would be smart to attempt to pry Street or someone comperable from Oakland, and to be honest, could probably happen with ease if the Yanks offer the correct package.
For the record, I think Haren is just as big of a signing as Santana. That automatically gives NY an ace.

[Tyrel SF]

"it's easy to forget stories like this, about guys working for the League minimium, trying to stick somewhere, as their careers slowly slip away."

Which reminds me, there was a good article about some of Boras's lesser known clients in yesterday's Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/sports/baseball/03boras.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin