Clement to stick?

USA TODAY had the story

Pirates' Jeff Clement's stick may help him stick

"When he came here, two things stood out for me," hitting coach Don Long said. "He's got a lot of raw power, and he really knows the strike zone. He sees the ball well, recognizes pitches well, knows what's in the zone, what he should attack and what not."

The left-handed hitter, the third pick in the 2005 draft out of Southern California, won that year's Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top college catcher. He has compiled a .282 average and a .865 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in five minor league seasons, including two 20-homer years.

Yet his success has yet to carry over to the majors, where he batted .227 with a .295 on-base percentage in 203 at-bats two years ago in his most extensive look. He says he thinks lack of a regular opportunity has hampered him.

Last year, he had 21 homers, 90 RBI and a .850 OPS in a season split between the Mariners' Class AAA team in Tacoma, Wash., and the Pirates' Class AAA team in Indianapolis but wasn't called up.

"It's tough to hit no matter who you are. And when you're not playing every day, it makes it 10 times more difficult," said Clement, 26, who has made his swing more compact, at Long's urging. "Getting at-bats every single day, I have the confidence I can produce a lot at the major league level."

Former First Round picks

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times caught up with three former Seattle Mariner first round picks who are no longer in the Mariners organization. Two of them are ex-Rattlers.

They arrived, as all first-round draft picks do, accompanied by breathless hype and limitless dreams.

Jeff Clement was that rarest of commodities, a left-handed- hitting catcher with power and a keen eye. Brandon Morrow had the sort of live arm that sends scouts' hearts atwitter. And Phillippe Aumont, a 6-foot-7 flamethrower, was the prototype of a power pitcher.

But in a five-month span last year that typified the aggressive game plan of Jack Zduriencik's general managership — one with no emotional ties to the phenoms of the previous regime — all the players were traded away.

Their dreams went with them. The hype had pretty much dried up.
...
None of the players fulfilled their promise with the Mariners, but all are young enough to still make their mark. And they will have their chance. Clement, 26, is being converted to first base by the Pirates and will be given a strong opportunity this spring to win the starting job. Morrow, 25, is slated for the Blue Jays' rotation, while Aumont, 21, will be a starter in the minors this year, likely at Class AA.

By happenstance, all landed with teams that train within a 20-mile radius in Florida. They each seemed excited about the prospect of jump-starting their careers in a new environment.

I'll pull out some of the parts on Clement ('05) and Aumont ('08). Click to read it all.

Clement noted that Zduriencik has made a sweeping transformation since he took over as GM after the 101-loss disaster of 2008 — a season in which the catcher hit just .227 in 203 at-bats.

"There were some changes that needed to be made, and he's making a lot of changes he thinks are going to make them a championship team," Clement said in Bradenton. "It's interesting that three (No. 1) picks are gone now, but obviously, he has a plan and he's trying to implement that."

Clement was picked after Justin Upton and Alex Gordon, and ahead of Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun and Jay Bruce, among others, in a draft that has been called one of the best in history. The general manager (Bill Bavasi) and scouting director (Bob Fontaine) wwho made the call on Clement are long gone, and Clement realizes their advocacy went with them.

"I think it's clear that changes [were coming]," he said. "You're going to have a lot more opportunities with the people that invested in you. If it changes, you expect that. Obviously, they wanted to move in a different direction, and I have no ill will toward them for that. They have a plan, and I wasn't part of that plan, and that's fine."
...
Aumont was more flattered than surprised by his trade — flattered to be dealt in a package that yielded a Cy Young winner in return.

"You don't see that too often," he said with a laugh. "It's probably going to happen once in my life you get that opportunity to be part of something like that. It's really an honor for me, and the other guys that came in the trade, too. They feel pretty flattered about that."

...

The Phillies, as the Mariners once did, envision Aumont as either a front of the rotation starter or a potential closer. He is philosophical about going from No. 1 draft pick to trade fodder.

"I guess that's part of the sport," he said. "You get drafted high, and
I guess when you have high picks, they can go get bigger names for the big-league team right away, instead of waiting for you to get up. It's part of the game — you're just a chip, and they trade you."

Speaking of Clement

This may be the most obvious statement ever made on Rattler Radio...The Pirates have plans for Jeff Clement.

Two hours before the Pittsburgh Pirates begin their daily workouts, infielders coach Carlos Garcia puts Jeff Clement through a special series of drills.

On a half-field tucked away in the back of the spring training complex, a spot half-hidden by a fence and the looming batter's eye of an adjacent field, Clement scoops grounders, charges dribblers and knocks down hard-hoppers.

The Pirates want Clement to be their Opening Day first baseman -- no small chore, considering he's never really played the position.

"He's my project this spring," Garcia said. "I'm happy with his progress. Hopefully, when we break camp, he'll be able to become our first baseman."

Clement was a Timber Rattler in 2005.

Yep...It was about time for this story again

Seattle Times headline regarding Jeff Clement ('05):

Jeff Clement takes his cuts in Tacoma, waiting for another chance in the big leagues

Those bright eyes of an All-American Iowan now have some miles on them. Jeff Clement, who two years ago was considered the Mariners' power-hitting catcher of the future, is more than halfway through another season in Class AAA Tacoma, his fourth since his first appearance with the Rainiers in 2006 on the fast track to major-league stardom.

"If I had all the answers, I probably wouldn't be here right now," Clement says.

Clement lost his major-league spot to Rob Johnson in the spring while recovering from knee surgery, and now is caught in baseball's version of purgatory. The Mariners already have Kenji Johjima, the apple of their owner's eye, and Johnson, a clubhouse favorite, catching in the majors. Ken Griffey Jr. fills Clement's possible role as a left-handed designated hitter. And even when the Mariners needed a bat this season, the club turned to Mike Carp and Chris Shelton.

Even in AAA, Clement has competition in Adam Moore. Moore, who like Clement is 25, has risen quickly through the organization and has caught most of the season in Tacoma as the Mariners remain cautious with Clement's knees.

Here's the wrapup:

"It has always been my dream to be a major-league baseball player," Clement says. "So the fact that at 25, I can show up on the field and play the game is great. Hopefully, I can continue playing for the next 10, 15 years and be productive at the major-league level."

Read everything in-between.

Clement finds comfort

According to the Kitsap Sun.

It's a longer than usual spring training this year, although Jeff Clement's time to make a lasting impression with the Seattle Mariners may be less than most.

With No. 1 catcher Kenji Johjima playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Clement is getting plenty of playing time early in camp. That will change when Johjima returns later this month, making the next couple of weeks Clement's best opportunity to prove he belongs on the team.

Wednesday, he finally made the most of it.

Clement went 2-for-3 with a single and a double in the Mariners' 9-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals. It ended a difficult early stretch after he had gone 1-for-14 with four strikeouts in his first six games.

"The other day when he got a hit, I think it loosened him up," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "I thought his whole presence was better. He didn't have any anxiety and he looked pretty comfortable."

Comfortable? Or is a member of Timber Rattler class of '05 relaxed?

"This is the most relaxed I've been for a spring training," he said. "This is the first time I've felt like I'm a part of it. The last few years I got some at-bats but I knew where I was going. This year I've got a shot at making the team and being a contributor. I was a little tense up there but I don't think it's because I was putting too much pressure on myself. I don't feel I was seeing the ball real well early and that's why I was a little jumpy."

Yesterday and Today in Mariner camp

The Mariners had an intrasquad game yesterday.

Geoff Baker reports that Jeff Clement ('05) went 0-for-2 with a walk.

Look who gets the start today for the Mariners in the exhibition opener.

Left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith -- who passed up a chance to pitch for Australia in the World Baseball Classic so he could stay in camp and show Wakamatsu and his all-new coaching staff that he belongs in the five-man rotation -- makes his first "meaningful" pitches of the spring.

Good luck, RRS.

About Clement

Two things about ex-Rattler Jeff Clement that have been sitting around for a while.

The most recent is this post over at Bleacher Report.

In 2007, Tacoma Rainiers catcher Jeff Clement was one of baseball's top prospects, especially when ranked with other minor league catchers.

When Kenji Johjima showed Seattle that his 2008 season was going to flirt with a .200 average, Clement got the call to play for the Seattle Mariners.

Many people thought Clement was a lost cause after the season but I think he is a found gem. Batting .298 after the All-Star Game in his rookie season, Clement showed us his amazing potential.

The other post was this community projection of his 2009 season at Lookout Landing.

Disastrous seasons aren't supposed to coincide with a 1.131 OPS in AAA, but I think it's fair to say that a disastrous season is exactly what Jeff Clement had in 2008.

After turning the corner and coming on strong in Tacoma in 2007, Clement kicked off 2008 hotter than vintage Eliza Dushku in a hockey jersey, collecting twice as many walks as strikeouts through the first month and batting nearly .400 on his way to a late April promotion. Having made the move while still hovering around .500, the Mariners intended to use Clement's scorching bat to ignite a slumping offense in need of new blood. Instead, though, Clement struggled to produce, collecting only eight hits in 15 games without a single home run before getting sent back to the minors in May. Whether or not the demotion was justifiable is an open question - at the time, Jose Vidro was just as big a pile of crap - but that's a separate matter, and the bottom line is that, when given his first trial, Jeff Clement didn't take advantage.

So Clement spent another month beating the snot out of the ball in Tacoma. Where his April was partially inflated by a high BABIP, over 109 PAs in May and June Clement slugged a legitimate .670, clubbing nine homers while hitting 50% fly balls. Once again he demonstrated that he had nothing left to learn at the plate in the minors, so once again he got promoted to the big leagues, this time in an effort to introduce more youth to a ballclub going nowhere.

Sorry. Zoned out after Eliza Dushku in a hockey jersey.

Mail Call

The Mariner Mailbag has a few questions related to ex-Rattlers.

Did Ryan Feierabend prove enough in his late-season outings that he is big league material?
-- Mike S., Kent, Ohio

Based on his performance in eight starts, a 1-4 record and 7.71 ERA would suggest the left-hander needs more seasoning at the Minor League level. He still needs better location with most of his pitches -- opponents batted .355 against him -- and 14 walks in 39 2/3 innings are too many.

and

What is the future for Kenji Johjima? Does he deserve another chance to start? Is he an OK backup to Jeff Clement, or should the Mariners trade him?
-- Joe G., Portland, Ore.

The manager will eventually decide where Johjima fits, but based on his final month of the season -- when he batted .333 (19-for-57) and worked well with the pitchers -- I would think he's the No. 1 catcher heading into Spring Training. Besides, the Mariners still aren't sure if Clement, who had knee surgery in September, could catch on a full-time basis.

Exactly how the catching position shakes out in camp could also depend on whether Johjima becomes part of Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic. If he plays for his country, and the Japan team advances to the final round of the 16-team event, he could miss camp in February and most of March.

Speaking of Clement ('05)...Jay at Mariner Minors noted that the Everett Herald, um, noted the progress of Clement from his surgery.

Catcher Jeff Clement has begun a running program and will start hitting off a tee in about two weeks as he recovers from knee surgery.

He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Sept. 9 and is expected to be at full strength when spring training begins.

"He's still got to come out and see the doctor in early January, but all indications are that he'll be OK," [Mariner trainer] Griffin said.

Meanwhile, Adam McCalvy at the Brewer Mailbag gets six questions....on pretty much the same topic. Click that link if you haven't already guessed it.

The answer

The News-Tribune has this in today's edition:

Rainiers slugger Clement looks like answer for Mariners

A year ago, there was talk among those who pay close attention to the Mariners farm system that Clement was a bust, overrated as a hitter and overmatched as a catcher. No more.

Given the struggles of Jose Vidro – his ninth-inning strikeout on Wednesday was culminated by one of the worst swings I’ve ever seen on a big-league field – Clement presents a simple solution to the designated hitter conundrum. As proposed in this space on Monday: alternate Clement and Kenji Johjima in a catching-DH platoon. Each would play regularly, while neither would be worn down by the grueling job of catching full time.

Clement doesn’t run well, so he isn’t perfect. He’s just a perfect fit for the Mariners. The team needs a left-handed bat? Check. Capable of power? Check. A hitter with the discipline to take borderline pitches and work the count, content to reach first on a walk? Check, check and check.

A couple of days ago there was this from Jason Churchill in the Post-Intelligencer:

Clement improving behind the plate

"He's really a different guy back there now," an American League scout said. "I was a cross checker for that draft and saw him in college, and he's not the same guy. A lot of us were sure he'd have to move off the position, but I don't see any reason why he can't hold down a big-league job in a year or so."

Since the end of the 2006 season, Clement has thrown out 43 percent of runners attempting to steal, best in the Mariners organization. His rapport with pitchers has improved exponentially, and his game-calling skills have followed suit. And he continues to smack the ball around the park -- he has a .696 slugging percentage.