Mets acquire Clippard for Meisner

The Mets announced that they have acquired Tyler Clippard and cash considerations from the Athletics in exchange for RHP Casey Meisner, who was pitching for High-A St. Lucie, where he had a 2.83 ERA.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sunday that in addition to the Mets, both the Nationals and Yankees were interested in acquiring Clippard.
Clippard, 30, has posted a 2.79 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 38.2 innings so far this season for the Athletics.
Clippard is owed roughly $3 million for the remainder of 2015 and is set to become a free agent after the season.
Thoughts:
More from New York Mets News
- NY Mets: Trade market for starting pitchers feels non-existent
- NY Mets need to call the Athletics about a Matt Chapman trade
- NY Mets dream starting lineup for the 2022 season
- NY Mets offseason makeover might be a simple “She’s All That” situation
- NY Mets: 8 Ex-Amazins who killed it with other teams in 2021
In addition to another outfielder, which the Mets are still trying to acquire, adding a legitimate setup man was a priority for two reasons.
For one, Jenrry Mejia, who recently returned from an 80-game suspension due to steroid use, will not be eligible for the postseason should the Mets make it. This is due to the terms of his suspension.
Bobby Parnell, who recently returned from Tommy John surgery and has been largely successful despite a dip in velocity, cannot be relied on either late in the season or during a potential playoff series. While his story is a nice one, he simply doesn’t have the stuff at the moment to be a late-inning option.
As far as the return for Clippard, while Meisner has considerable upside, he’s at least two years away from contributing at the big league level and comes with lots of risk attached.
Clippard, who has been one of the better late-inning pitchers in baseball for the last half decade, was one of the best options out there.
Clippard is outperforming his FIP by over a run so far this season, but save for 2012, he’s outperformed his FIP in every season of his career — often by a large margin. So it appears that’s the norm for him.
A bit worrisome is the fact that Clippard’s BB rate this season is 4.89, but hopefully a trade to a contender will partially fix whatever has ailed him control-wise while with Oakland.