In terms of on-field results, it hasn’t been a fruitful tenure in San Diego for general manager A.J. Preller, who hasn’t even overseen a .500 team since his hiring in 2014. But it was on this day four years ago that Preller made one of his best moves as the head of the club’s baseball department. On April 8, 2016, Preller’s Padres claimed left-handed reliever Brad Hand from the Marlins via waivers. It’s now fair to say the decision counts as one of the biggest steals of the past several years.
When the Padres put in their claim, Hand – a 2008 second-round pick and a then-26-year-old – had failed to distinguish himself as either a quality starter or a solid reliever. As a member of the Marlins, he totaled 90 appearances (43 starts) and 288 2/3 innings of 4.71 ERA/4.54 FIP ball with just 5.9 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9. The Marlins designated him for assignment as a result, but the light bulb immediately went on in San Diego in 2016, when he switched to a full-time relief role.
Owing in part to an increased reliance on his slider, Hand notched a 2.92 ERA/3.07 FIP with 11.18 K/9 and 3.63 BB/9 in 89 1/3 innings during his initial Padres season. The good times have kept rolling since then for Hand, who has earned three straight All-Star nods. Since the Marlins cut ties with him, Hand has logged a 2.75 ERA/3.04 FIP and 12.23 K/9 against 3.08 BB/9 across 298 frames. And he has cashed in along the way, having inked a three-year, $19.75MM guarantee in advance of the 2018 season. Odds are that Hand will collect another $10MM in 2021, as it’s difficult to see his employer turning down that reasonably priced option in favor of a $1MM buyout.
While the Padres were the ones who made that financial commitment to Hand, he’s no longer on their roster. After Hand generated significant trade interest from around the game, the Padres sold high on him in in July 2018. They sent him and fellow reliever Adam Cimber to Cleveland for catcher/outfielder Francisco Mejia, then one of the highest-ranked prospects in baseball.
Hand has been an effective closer for the Indians (Cimber struggled somewhat last year), whereas Mejia hasn’t quite lived up to the hype he drew in his younger days. However, that’s not to say Mejia is a lost cause by any means. The switch-hitting 24-year-old is coming off his first extensive action in the majors, where he batted a decent .265/.316/.438 (96 wRC+) with eight home runs in 244 plate appearances last season. Mejia did have difficulty behind the plate, throwing out only 17 percent of would-be base stealers and earning a below-average pitch-framing grade, though the Padres are no doubt still hopeful that he’ll emerge as their long-term solution at catcher. Even if he doesn’t, it’s hard to argue with the value they received in the Hand trade, and it never would have happened had they not made the wise decision to grab him off the waiver wire four years back.
Off topic question: Connor, how often do the MLBTR writers get article ideas from people in the comments section?
It happens on occasion, though I’m not sure exactly how often. If you have ideas, we’re willing to listen; regardless, we’re so appreciative to everyone who continues to visit the Trade Rumors sites during this downtime. A very sincere thanks to all of you.
Thank you for replying, I was just curious, because I see many commetors that propose article ideas, and then two or three weeks later an article comes out something that the commentor spoke of.
How about taking a look at and ranking the foreign players in each of the NPB, KBO and CPBL? And maybe look at some potential players that might come over from those leagues in the future.
I got this idea on a local radio station, but they were talking about the NFL, and this is the idea. Which MLB teams were the top spenders in free agency each of the past ten seasons, and how many games did they win in relation to their spending?
It would be interesting. I’m sure teams like Philly, NYM and LAA have spent tons in the last decade to be bad.
I’d like to see an article about pitchers who strike out a lot of batters but give up too many runs (like Chris Archer, Matt Boyd or Sean Manaea in the 2019 AL Wild Card game)
Let’s hear it for the boy!!!
I like the idea Preller has tried to do multiple times. Package assets in exchange for a single, high ticket item. Matt Kemp, Taylor Trammell, Mejia, Anderson Espinosa etc.
It just kinda stinks that they all keep flopping.
2x
TIL that Matt Kemp was a “high ticket item.”
He put out elite offensive output his season prior to joining the Padres
And was already way past his prime years and was already a known brick in the outfield.
He’s built an elite farm system that he’s only really interested in adding higher caliber talent via trade at this point.
He’s held on to guys like Stammen Chacin and others who were on 1 year deals and didn’t trade them.
And how did holding on to Stammen, Chacin and the other 1-year guys work out for him?
Don’t know cause we don’t know what was offered for them.
Hard to say he should have traded them without knowing what was offered.
Getting back an AAAA player wouldn’t have helped in the long run. Nor would getting a guy who’s been in A ball for 7 years. Or a guy you’d have to protect from rule 5 in the offseason.
At this point Prellers trading to improve the team. Not trade cause fans on comment boards think he should. Why trade for someone that takes development and playing time away from your own players that you value higher?
Chacin and the others walked and then Stammen would have come back if they had traded him. Preller could have done with them what he did with James Shields and traded them for some 16 y/o Venezuelan and hoped that he hit on the trade. If he did, great. If he didn’t, what did the Padres REALLY lose?
“At this point Prellers trading to improve the team.”
Yes and how does keeping a guy who is a free agent at the end of the season and is currently costing you $ and hurting your draft position improve the team?
Good article, and even if it hadn’t been, worth it for the headline!
Marlins are the only reason Preller is still employed.
And White Sox
Them too
Watching Preller is the most frustrating experience. He’s capable of absolutely stealing great young players from teams (Tatis, Paddack) but then he turns around and signs Eric Hosmer, wiping out all the good work. He sees value where others don’t always, but also hallucinates value where none exists.
Did he see value where others don’t when he traded Trea Turner, Max Fried and Luis Urias?
Hilarious and great point Mike!
So what you’re saying, tannedt, is that Preller is like almost every other GM where he makes some really good deals and some really bad ones?
Insightful information. Thank you.
Two trades he has made are basically the only reason he still has a job.
As a mets fan I remember hand while w the marlins I could tell he had great stuff. Hand just lacked confidence, he looked scared out there maybe thinking he may be sent down to triple a.
Fast fwd to his days in san Diego and he looks like a bulldog, this guy would load the bases w no outs and be as calmed and collected as if there were two outs and none on base.
Pad’s fan here…
“…A.J. Preller, who hasn’t even overseen a .500 team since his hiring in 2014.”
Fans point to the Jr./Shields trade and give him props., and ignore this fact.
He is unable to build a major league level championship roster. Good scout, bad GM.
So the four finalists for SDs GM were Mike Hazen, Billy Eppler, Kim Ng, and AJ.. Mike Hazen is the winner in that group. No way to know if Hazen would have accepted, the job. It was never offered as far as I could find. Lovullo was passed up by MN and TX in 2014 so returned as the Red Sox bench coach. In 2015 took over fwhen Farrell had surgery.. So Lovullo in for the Pads skipper doesnt seem for certain either and you have to figure Lovullo into any success Hazen has had. With that said I would take AJ over Billy Eppler.
Jake Peavy (1999) or maybe Mat Latos (2006) were the last homegrown pitchers of note and AJ is about 12 months away from what could be a home grown rotation or a large portion there of. The real build began in 2016, post all in. There is no defense for the premature Myers extension nor compounding it with the Hosmer signing. There have been mistakes no doubt. A good portion of prospects that have not shown well have been Byrnes holdovers in Hedges, Spangenberg, Renfroe, Urias, and Erlin. AJ does need to show he can develop the Mejia, Grisham, Naylor, Morejon, Baez, Castillo, Guerra, Cordero, Croneworth , Miller, Patino and Gore. This will ultimately be the make or break for AJ remaining with the Padres. I find myself pulling for AJ cause another GM and further change would only set the window back further.
How have Renfroe and Urias not shown well?
And on Hedges, we knew what he was before he came up and he has been pretty much exactly that.