JEFF CLEMENT

8/21/83; '05 1st (Seattle); Univ. of Southern California
L/R; 6-1, 210

Level
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2005 A (Sea)
.319
.386
.522
113
5
0
6
12
25
1
2
2005 A- (Sea)
.273
.400
.364
11
1
0
0
1
2
0
0
2006 AAA (Sea)
.257
.321
.347
245
10
0
4
16
53
0
2
2006 AA (Sea)
.288
.386
.525
59
6
1
2
7
8
0
0
2007 AL (Sea)
.375
.474
.813
16
1
0
2
3
3
0
0
2007 AAA (Sea)
.275
.370
.497
455
35
3
20
61
88
0
0
2008 AL (Sea)
.227
.295
.360
203
10
1
5
15
63
0
1
2008 AAA (Sea)
.335
.455
.676
173
17
0
14
35
30
0
0
2009 AAA (Sea)
.288
.366
.505
372
33
3
14
43
81
1
0
2009 AAA
.224
.313
.459
98
2
0
7
12
27
1
1

Clement was the most prominent player the Pirates obtained from Seattle in exchange for SS Jack Wilson and RHP Ian Snell.  The others were SS Ronny Cedeno and RHPs Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.

Clement was the third overall pick as a catcher in the 2005 draft and was Seattle's top prospect, according to Baseball America, in 2006 and 2008.  He set the national career HR record in high school, then fell eight HRs short of Mark McGwire's career record at USC.  He was never able to get established in Seattle, though, due to knee problems and questions about his defense.  His 2006 season was interrupted by knee surgery and by another operation to remove bone chips from his elbow.  The knee problems, as well as subpar defense—his CS % in AAA, for instance, is 22%—raised doubts that he'd be able to stay at catcher.  He also was slow to get acclimated to major league pitching in his one opportunity in 2008.  The Mariners weren't exactly known for capable management prior to 2009, either, and their decision to give Kenji Johjima a long-term contract blocked Clement.  In 2009, he remained in AAA and served mainly as a DH.

Clement has hit well, with good power and generally good plate discipline, while he's been in AAA.  The Mariners' AAA affiliate, Tacoma, does not play in a hitters' park.  He's struggled badly with LHPs in 2009, but that hasn't been the case in prior years.*  He'll be 26 in August, so he's probably about as good as he'll get now and thus needs to play regularly in the majors starting very soon.  Although the Pirates portrayed him as the key pickup in the Seattle trade, however, they seemed oddly unenthused about the prospect of bringing him to the majors.  They sent him to Indianapolis to get more time at first, as he'd played only six games there prior to the trade.  They were noncommittal about bringing him up even in September, even pointing out that he has one more option left.  Unfortunately, the issue was rendered moot when Clement suffered an oblique strain, which probably accounted for a dismal slump that dragged his numbers down after a hot start with his new organization.  The Pirates decided to send him to Florida to rehab the muscle strain rather than bring him to Pittsburgh.  He should compete for the firstbase job in spring training, as the Pirates sort through what to do with Steve Pearce, Garrett Jones, Brandon Moss and others.

* One interesting theory that attempted to explain both scouts' apparent disdain for Clement and Clement's strong numbers in AAA was expounded late in the 2007 season.  The theory was that he's lost bat speed and can only hit LHPs, who in AAA are predominantly soft tossers.  Clement did, in fact, have an OPS that was nearly 200 points higher against LHPs than RHPs in 2007.  The theory fell apart, however, when Clement posted a higher OPS in AAA against RHPs in both 2008 and 2009.

Return to First Basemen