If D-Backs sell, Clippard could be possibility

The Diamondbacks have looked good as of late, winning six of seven. This is always a good sign, but doing it against a Phillies team that is 6-24 since May 18th is nothing to get excited about. Winning two games in Toronto to run the winning streak to six in a row on the road would have been a completely different story. The team still isn’t close to the playoffs, they’re 12.5 games back of the San Francisco Giants in the N.L. West and a somewhat more attainable five games back of the Wild Card.

So the question becomes, do the Diamondbacks stand pat, buy, or sell at the trade deadline? Or do a combination of both? As disappointing as this team has been, a spot in a one-game playoff is still a possibility especially if the run this team is on right now continues.

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A lot will depend on what this team does over the next month-plus, but if selling is the way the front office decides to go, Tyler Clippard is another trade chip possibility. Clippard has pitched to a 3.21 ERA in 29 appearances this season, his first with Arizona on a two-year, $12.25 million dollar contract.

Relievers will be a hot commodity on the trade market come August 1, as they always are. Clippard will bevaluable to contending teams because of his consistency year in and year out, and his ability to work the late innings.He essentially is a hybrid late-inning man, and with so many teams looking for a closer or a setup man, his name will certainly come up.

As stated in a previous article about Daniel Hudson, even if 2016 doesn’t go as planned, the D-backs are in a win-now period that will last for at least the next couple of years, and it wouldn’t make sense to waste $200 million dollar man Zack Greinke, and Paul Goldschmidt’s prime by selling off veterans to rebuild the farm system.

Don’t expect the D-backs to trade Clippard, but selling is still a possibility, and Dave Stewart should get calls on him.

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