With Tyler Clippard In Arizona, Expect Jonathan Papelbon To Be The Washington Nationals Closer

Now that Tyler Clippard is on the Diamondbacks, there are no more closer options on the free agent market

Yesterday, two former Washington Nationals relievers signed with other teams for the 2016 season. Craig Stammen ended up signing a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians and Tyler Clippard signed a two-year, $12.25 million with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Stammen was coming off an injury-plagued 2015 and the Nats decided to non-tender him earlier this winter. As for Clippard, his market never really materialized this winter and he is now with a contender, but likely going to be the eighth inning guy behind Brad Ziegler with the Diamondbacks:

No surprise here, but I'm told Brad Ziegler will remain closer if/when this deal is done. https://t.co/yv09OPKsOQ
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) February 8, 2016

With Clippard now off the board, I think it’s a definite that Jonathan Papelbon is the closer when spring training begins and when the regular season starts on April 4 in Atlanta, unless there is a surprise trade happening. From the beginning of the offseason, most people thought Papelbon would be gone, but there hasn’t been much interest from anyone.

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Now, if Papelbon is the closer, it doesn’t mean general manager and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo failed this winter. There aren’t going to be many teams, if any, who want to acquire a closer with an extremely limited no-trade clause and one who put his hands on the throat of a star player in the dugout during a game.

However, this offseason, Rizzo has spoken fondly of Papelbon, talking about how he brings a “swagger to the bullpen.” Plus, with the Nats’ MASN money situation, it was going to be tough for them to eat all of the $11 million left on his contract. With that being said, the Nationals have fixed their bullpen whether it was through trade or free agency.

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With Papelbon still being in DC, Dusty Baker’s first big job as Nats manager is going to be to diffuse the first couple days of spring training when the media’s focus is going to be on Papelbon and Bryce Harper. Baker was brought in to be the new manager because of how well he can manage a clubhouse, so this will be a good first test.

That being said, while fans will be upset Papelbon is going to be the closer, he is still an effective closer, even at age 35. He was 24-for-26 in saves last year and his 1.7 walks per nine innings were the fourth lowest he’s had in a single season. However, his eight strikeouts per nine innings were the lowest he’s had in a single season. Clippard would have been a good addition to the bullpen, but barring a surprise move by Rizzo, it looks like the bullpen is already in place for the 2016 season.

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