Clulow wants to remain in Omaha as he declines opt-out, but will Omaha accept the team option side of the deal?(43.39)

[niles08]

Stephen Clulow pitched in the season finale for the Cyclones in a classy move by the franchise allowing Clulow to go out and cater to the fans potentially one last time with both Omaha and Clulow holding mutual options on whether he would return to the mound in 2044 for the club.

One side of that announced their decision today as Stephen Clulow notified the team he would like to remain in Omaha for the 2044 season, a place he has called home for over a decade now. This could obviously be a cash move as Clulow is owed $900,000 if the team declines his option, but he is obviously owed $0,000,000 if he opted out himself beforehand.

Omaha has a history of being loyal to it’s long time members of the club, as it doesn’t often happen that a longtime member is traded away or not welcomed back.

The question now… How loyal are they going to be?

If the team accepts the team option on Clulow, they will owe him $4,500,000, or a $1,000,000 increase from this past season. It basically amounts to an additional $3,600,000 if Omaha does accept the option. Is Clulow worth $3,600,000?

Last season, with a -0.6 WAR, the first negative WAR of Clulow’s career in which he made more than 4 starts, you’d have to shake your head when asked that question of “worth”. In 2042, his 2.1 WAR would make that 3 million dollars a no-brainer as would basically any of the 5 seasons prior.

At age 31 though, after 2,172 innings, is Clulow washed up and done? Has his trusted right arm finally fallen off? He had the elbow strain in July of last season, the first major injury since the 2036 season where he suffered the partially torn UCL.

Is there even a spot in Omaha’s rotation for Clulow with Ruiz and Silva sitting down in AAA? Would Clulow work as the closer Omaha so desperately needs?

All good questions, with no definite answers.

[RonCo]

I can see him in the Cyclone pen.