First off, Clippard is only ONE of SEVERAL RP we could have gotten on a reasonable 2-3 year deal. In re to age: RP have a longer shelf life, and 31 isn't that old anyways. He's not elite, but he is a damn fine RP still. His 8.1 k/9 last year actually would have placed him right behind Perkins and Mays strike out rate and would have put him ahead of Jepsen's. (Just food for thought) Even with his "down" year last year he still put up a sub 3.00 ERA and is one season removed from a 10.5 k/9 2.18 ERA season. In fact the 4 years previous to last year he had a 9.8 k/9 which puts him way ahead of anything the Twins have tossed out other than Perkins over that span. Seems like the perfect high floor, pretty nice ceiling type signing. Again, it would literally have cost the same amount they gave Pelfrey, and only a little bit more AAV then what they gave Fien and his 5.8 k/9 to come back. If the Twins signed him he instantly becomes either their 2nd, 3rd or 4th best guy in the pen hands down. All it would have cost is a tiny bit of money, and again there still would have been 3-4 open spots for the "rookies" and the dumpster diving signings TR did.