Nationals: 3 former players Washington should avoid signing

Tyler Clippard

As I filtered through a handful of names to see who would fill the third slot of this piece, the nostalgia kicked in. Matt Adams won a ring and hit 20 bombs last year, if there is a universal designated hitter, sure throw him a bone. Steven Souza, would never happen anyway. Gio Gonzalez’s ship has sailed as well. Jordan Zimmermann, I’d be okay with that. Some home cooking may do him good. Brandon Kintzler, left on bad terms, wouldn’t happen. Greg Holland and Brad Peacock, come on back. Even Yusmeiro Petit and Ross Detwiler are still in good graces. A team can never have too many arms.

Recalling the “Clipp and Save” days of Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps are nice, though I just don’t see a home for Tyler Clippard on the Nationals moving forward.

Aquired in a steal of a deal of a trade with the New York Yankees, Clippard pitched in parts of seven seasons with the Washington Nationals. He made two All-Star appearances and finished his time with the team with a 34-24 record and 2.68 earned run average.

In 2012 he was the main closer and nailed down 32 saves. Clippard was disgruntled the following year when Rafael Soriano was brought in to be the new closer.

Since leaving the Nationals prior to the 2015 season, Clippard has pitched with nine different teams.

While Tyler Clippard can still get big league hitters out, he is prone to giving up the gopher ball. Clippard made nearly $3M last year and will make around the same this year. The Nationals can allocate the funds elsewhere and continue to groom Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey.