How Blue Jays beat the Yankees for Ernie Clement — and found an all-star

PHILADELPHIA — Demand is usually strong when versatile middle infielders who have big-league experience become available on a minor-league deal, which is why in the spring of 2023, four teams competed to sign Ernie Clement.

The Athletics, who had claimed him off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians the previous September, had released him March 12, and the calls to agent Steve Skrinar started immediately after. Two leading options quickly emerged — the New York Yankees, who held appeal as Clement’s childhood team; and the Toronto Blue Jays, whose triple-A affiliate in Buffalo offered the Rochester, N.Y., native a chance to play close to home.

The Yankees made what Skrinar described as “a pretty good offer,” but he felt the Blue Jays, who had less money on the table, actually had the better opportunity. Even with a deep big-league infield of Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman, Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal, his read of the depth charts suggested a clearer path to the majors there. So Skrinar called assistant GM Mike Murov, whom he had known since they both worked as interns for the Marlins in 2008 and was overseeing the talks, said “you came in a little bit lighter,” and added, “hey, this is what it's going to take.”

“I thought it was probably the best spot for him,” said Skrinar. “And Mike was like, 'Give me 10 minutes, I'll call you back.' Sure enough, he called me back and the rest is history.”

Clement signed with the Blue Jays on March 14, and what a fateful decision that’s turned out to be. The 3.5 seasons since have taken him from off-roster depth piece, to bench player, to everyday guy, to single-season-playoff hits record-holder, to member of Team USA at the World Baseball Classic and, now, to starting second baseman and American League top vote-getter for the 96th All-Star Game.

A remarkable outcome for someone who four springs ago “just wanted to play.”

“The opportunity in triple-A to play four or five games a week and be close to home, for me, that was really all that I cared about. That's what they promised,” said Clement. “I wanted to get back on the field and bet on myself and prove to people that I can help a team win.”

The Blue Jays’ interest in Clement that spring was no mere whim.

They did some work on him when the Guardians placed him on waivers and then looked at him again that January, when they had trade talks with the Athletics. Andrew Pipkin, their medical director, knew Clement from Cleveland and provided a strong review of the player’s character and work habits, while baseball operations liked the fit from a talent perspective, but the A’s ultimately decided to carry him into spring training.

After he was released, Bryan Lee, the Blue Jays’ manager, pro personnel, immediately flagged Clement’s availability, and because all the background work had already taken place, they were ready to act quickly to close the deal, with Murov leading the talks.

“Having the relationship with Mike was certainly helpful,” said Skrinar. “Ernie didn't care about the money. It was, 'Hey, I want to play in the big-leagues.' I knew where his heart was because he grew up a Yankees fan, he was a (Derek) Jeter fan. But I was like, ‘Listen, dude, just think about it and call me back.’ Literally 30 seconds later, he called back and said, ‘Let's do it, Toronto, here we go.’”

Clement hit the ground running with the Bisons but even though he performed well at both triple-A, where he hit .348/.401/.544 in 72 games, and the majors, batting .380/.385/.500 in a limited sample of 30 games, he yo-yoed between levels.

The Blue Jays first selected his contract on May 23 — Buffalo manager Casey Candaele called him onto the coaches’ bus during a food stop en route to Lehigh Valley to deliver the news, which “made the Chick-Fil-A taste a little better after that,” said Clement — but was optioned down June 6. He was recalled again June 13, demoted July 10, recalled again Aug. 1, sent back down again, recalled once more Aug. 28 and optioned for the final time on Sept. 20.

During one of his stints up, Clement popped into manager John Schneider’s office. 

“I was like, ‘Dude, I can play. I can help this team. I want opportunity. Anytime you can get me on the field, I can help this team win,”’ he recalled. “And it felt like from that moment forward he tried to get me in there. I had probably a 40-, 50-at-bat stretch where I felt like I was locked in and helped the team win. It's just about getting opportunity and taking advantage of it.”

Neither is certain exactly where that conversation happened — Schneider believed it was Colorado during a series at the beginning of September — the details of Clement’s message remain vivid.

"I loved it because when you're in that up-and-down role, it's easy to just be content with it,” said Schneider. “He had been in that spot enough with Cleveland where he just wanted to make his feelings known. That was the beginning of Ernie the Gamer. Every time he was in there, he did something good, something that sparked us, whether it was a pickoff play or a big hit. That was just him saying, 'I'm better than you think.' And I was like, 'All right, dude, I got you.'”

Other players have made similar appeals to Schneider, who as a career minor-league player remembers “wanting to let people know how you feel, in a positive way. When players say that, it's better than not saying it and then just assuming that they're OK with whatever limited time they're getting. You still have to earn that time, but hearing the self-confidence is a good thing.”

For Clement, often stuck on the taxi squad while bouncing up and down with Cleveland in 2021 and 2022, speaking up in that way was a departure, but “I had nothing to lose, really,” he explained. “I believed in myself. I wanted him to know that I was ready. It wasn't like, ‘Oh I need to be in there, I'm better than these guys.’ It was, ‘I'm ready to play and if you need me, I'll be here and you can trust me to help this team win.’”

The numbers said as much. In those 30 games in 2023, he produced 0.6 WAR as calculated by Fangraphs. Proving that was no small-sample size aberration, the next year he delivered 2.1 wins in 139 games, his first wire-to-wire year in the majors. Last year, he pushed that total to 3.2 wins in 157 games and dished out 30 hits during a remarkable post-season. So far this year, he’s at 1.2 wins, the wider baseball world finally recognizing that he indeed does help a team win.

Vital to that progression is the way the Blue Jays, starting with Matt Hague, at the time Clement’s hitting coach with the Bisons, allowed him to lean into what he does well at the plate. An aggressive free-swinger, “I was always told I need to be a little bit more selective, try to work the count, work a couple more walks, all this stuff,” said Clement. “Matty was always like, ‘Go get after it, go be you, go swing, you're great at making contact, so go do what you're really good at,’ instead of trying to change how I approach it.” 

There were tweaks, of course, Hague designing drills aimed at helping Clement make higher-quality contact by connecting at better angles. But the scar tissue built up from his experiences with the Guardians and Athletics was essential, too.

"The failures that I've had have helped me learn and grow and also has helped me not be afraid to fail,” he explained. “When I go out there and play, I'm not worried about making an error or striking out. I've done that enough. There's no need to be afraid of that failure. I can embrace all the struggles I've had and I can play free and just enjoy myself. I've got nothing to worry about and I can just be thankful that I have another chance to play baseball.”

In the spring of 2023, the Blue Jays were one of several teams willing to give him that chance. His agent, thanks to his experience working in baseball front offices, including the Marlins where he first met Murov, had the foresight to see to prioritize triple-A playing time with the faith that Clement would play himself into a role in the majors, which he did. Along the way, the 30-year-old learned to leverage his abilities and forged himself into a vital part of the Blue Jays, one now recognized as an all-star. 

“If you love the game enough, you'll never give up on your dreams and you'll always believe in yourself. You won't take no for an answer,” said Clement. “I got told that I wasn't good enough 100 times and I didn't believe anybody. I just kept plugging, and this is really cool.”