Prospect Profile: Anthony Claggett

Humberto Sanchez was thought to be the center piece of the Gary Sheffield trade, while Kevin Whelan was a nice addition, but most people forget that there was a third player in that trade. That third player is 23 year old pitcher Anthony Clagget. The Tigers idea must have been to capitalize on Clagget’s value while it was its highest, since the season prior to the trade Clagget was 7-2 with a 0.91 for single A West Michigan and gaining 13 saves while acting as the team’s closer for part of the season. The Yankees’ picked up all three of these players to help bolster their young pitching crew for the bullpen, since the rotation is already pretty well set up. Clagget was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 11th round of the 2005 draft out of the University of California-Riversdale. Clagget has a 2.93 ERA in his professional career and has traveled rather quickly through the minor league system, ending the 2007 in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, if only for one game. Despite being more of a ground ball pitcher, Clagget still has a pretty solid K/9 7.29 and an even more encouraging 2.93 BB/9 in his career. Despite not having as obvious control problems as teammate Kevin Whelan, the Yankees took a similar approach with Clagget to help his development and control. They started him out in 2007 as a starting pitcher rather then a reliever for the first time in his career, going 9-8 with a 3.69 ERA during that time.
Clagget does not have the power arm that many relievers have, but his repertoire of pitchers is still better suited for the bullpen. Clagget has really only mastered a fastball and a slider, a combination with not nearly enough variety to make him an effective starter. His fastball usually sits around 93 mph with not much movement and the Yankees still may or may not ask him to dump his slider for a curve ball, as they have asked many of their young pitchers to do. Clagget has a deceptive delivery, however, so it helps keep hitter’s off balance even with how little movement he has with his fastball. Clagget has decent control for this stage in his development, so that should work in his advantage. The fact that the Yankees’ bullpen has many holes helps give him a quicker road to the majors as well. If he pitches well enough, he may be given a chance to contribute with the Yankees at some point during the 2008 season, although it seems somewhat unlikely. Since he finished the season with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he seems likely to begin 2008 there as well in a crowded bullpen.