With fifteen days until pitchers and catchers report, seemingly every elite free agent has found his home for the 2016 season. But one player who does not yet know where he will find himself on February 18: Tyler Clippard. Despite many swings and misses throughout the offseason, GM Mike Rizzo has made significant moves to bolster both batting and pitching, but a hole still remains in the eighth inning role. After two attempts to wrestle talent away from the Mets-one successful (Daniel Murphy) and one unsuccessful (Yoenis Cespedes)-it is time for Rizzo to do so again.

One of the Nationals’ greatest mistakes last season was putting crucial late inning situations in the hands of young, unproven relievers such as Aaron Barrett and Blake Treinen. This year’s cast includes different names but similar qualities. Beyond presumed closer Jonathan Papelbon, the team’s official bullpen depth chart lists the following names: Felipe Rivero, Yusmeiro Petit, Blake Treinen, Aaron Barrett, Rafael Martin, Matt Grace, AJ Cole, Trevor Gott, and Nick Lee. Excluding Petit, the eight other pitchers have combined for 323 major league innings-barely half of Clippard’s 562. As for Petit, his career low ERA is 3.56, not what the Nationals are looking for in the eighth inning role.

Petit, having been in a long relief role most of his career, will most likely assume that position again in 2016. Presuming Papelbon retains the closer role, that leaves five bullpen spots. Rivero, Treinen, Barrett, Martin, and Gott seem set to occupy those spots, with Rivero as the lefty specialist and Treinen as the righty specialist. There could be minor alterations to these assumptions but the crucial late inning set up roles will probably belong to Barrett and Gott. Which of these pitchers would Nats fans be confident in to retire Lucas Duda and Yoenis Cespedes late in a crucial September game?

One could point to Gott as a likely candidate for the eighth inning but trusting him would be relying on the same hopefulness about young relievers that led to the disaster that was 2015’s bullpen. Both Barrett and Treinen posted sub-2.70 ERAs despite less than solid peripherals in breakout 2014 rookie campaigns. The two were key contributors to the Nats’ disappointing 2015 as both had their ERAs rise by more than a run and required stints in AAA.

Gott, while a more highly rated prospect, owns a resume filled with similar troublesome blemishes. His 3.02 ERA proved that his high-90s fastball and devastating slider could translate to the big league level but upon closer inspection, he looks ripe for the sophomore slump that Treinen and Barrett endured. His 1.24 WHIP does not support such a gleaming ERA, while a 1.7 K:BB ratio and 5.15 K/9 are classified between “poor” and “awful” according to FanGraphs.

So, if not Gott, who should the Nats trust with the 8th inning? How about the man who made opposing hitters view games at Nats Park as a 7 inning affairs for six years from 2009 to 2014. Tyler Clippard maintained a 2.68 ERA over seven years with the team. In 471.2 innings pitched between the 7th and 9th innings, he held opponents to a .586 OPS+, a stat that earns an “awful” classification on FanGraphs. His opponents’ batting average? .186, worse than every hitter in baseball with at least 400 PA. While his 2015 season represented a slight down year as he bounced around and adapted to two new teams, he still managed a 2.92 ERA and 1.13 WHIP to go along with a 2.06 K:BB. Additionally, he actually holds lefties to worse statistics that righties, a rare ability in a righty-heavy Nationals bullpen.

To put it simply, Clippard is elite, and has been for a long time. He fits in with the Nats clubhouse and has forged friendships with many of the current players. His position is one of extreme need, no matter the cost. By whiffing on Heyward, Upton, Cespedes, Leake, and Phillips, Rizzo has drawn much public criticism but those failures have opened up the ability to afford one of the most expensive relievers on the market. Sure, Clippard may not want to settle for an eighth inning role but after one year, Papelbon will be gone and Clippard can shift back to closer and leave the eighth to one of the team’s upcoming young arms. Rizzo was right to trade Clippard before last season, as he acquired a solid middle infielder in Yunel Escobar, who he flipped for five cost-controlled years of Trevor Gott. But now that Clippard is once again available to the Nats, it’s time to get him back.