In a rather stunning move, the Indians have placed closer Brad Hand on outright waivers, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). It’s a pure cost-cutting transaction from Cleveland, with the hope that another team places a claim on the left-hander, who has a $10MM club option on his current contract. Any club that claims Hand would be able to pick up that option and retain him for the 2021 season at that $10MM price.
Per Meisel, the Indians had planned to decline the option, which would’ve required paying a $1MM buyout. They’ll decline it if he goes unclaimed. However, Cleveland would stand to save that $1MM if another team makes a claim, which seems possible given Hand’s excellent 2020 season and generally strong track record.
Hand, 30, led the American League with 16 saves this year and posted a 22-to-4 K/BB ratio with a 2.05 ERA over the life of 22 innings. He had a few hiccups in the ninth inning early on, but Hand’s overall results fall right in line with his All-Star track record. Since being unearthed by the Padres on a waiver claim back in 2016, Hand owns a 2.70 ERA with 12.2 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and 0.87 HR/9.
Waiver priority at this juncture is based on reverse order of the league-wide standings. That’d give the Pirates, Rangers, Tigers, Red Sox, D-backs, Orioles, Nationals, Mets, Rockies and Angels first crack at Hand, in that order. Most of those clubs are rebuilding or cutting costs themselves, but it’s feasible that a team like the Red Sox, Nats, Mets or Angels could place a claim with an eye toward contending in 2021.
Frankly, revenue losses notwithstanding, it’s arguable that any club should welcome the chance to bring Hand into the fold. There’s not a team that wouldn’t be bettered by adding a pitcher of this caliber to its relief corps, and the one-year, $10MM price point would be considered a bargain under normal market circumstances.
Of course, the absence of fans in 2020 has created what most expect to be a brutal market for free agents as clubs take drastic measures to cut payroll. As such, some clubs will surely pass on claiming Hand — maybe in hopes that he’ll go unclaimed and be available on a multi-year deal at a lower annual rate — but it’s hard to imagine that a hopeful contender won’t jump at the opportunity to acquire an elite bullpen price on a one-year term.
As for the Indians, this removes doubt about the club’s offseason direction. It’s long been expected that they’ll continue last winter’s efforts to pare back payroll, although not in such egregious fashion. The move to place Hand on waivers only seems to further the likelihood that Cleveland will trade superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor, whose salary could approach or exceed $20MM in his final trip through the arbitration process. That much has looked likely since owner Paul Dolan infamously told fans to “enjoy him” a few years back, but it now feels more inevitable than ever before.
Looking more broadly at the market as a whole, it’ll be of greater concern for free agents — relievers, in particular — across the game if Hand somehow passes through waivers unclaimed. If no club is willing to take on Hand at a one-year, $10MM term (or if he survives all the way to the Dodgers, who are last in waiver priority), that will speak volumes about market expectations in the months to come.
Seems like a no-brainer that he’ll get claimed, and fast.
Not surprised. Going to find out soon what teams are willing to spend. Probably not many.
If the teams don’t spend, expect a strike after the 2021 season and no baseball in 2022. MLB is getting over $2 billion in additional revenue in 2021 from new TV contracts above and beyond the record $12.5 billion they made in 2019. Players won’t put up with this garbage.
I hopes so. But more than that, I hope the P.O.S. Dolan family sells the team to someone who wants to win.
He’s average 1.678 bWAR a year since 2016 (that’s including prorating 2020). Not sure that’s worth $10M in today’s Covid market….
But then again the Dodgers are paying Kenley Jansen $20M a year…so ya someone prol will. It would have to be a big market team though.
After dealing with like 30 rookies in the pen in Houston I’d pay that in a heartbeat.
Jansen’s contract came when the market was different. Even the Dodgers are crying about lost revenue in 2020. This will probably be a contentious winter between the players and the owners. With the possibility of no fans in the stands at least initially, owners might want a shorter season and prorated salaries. You know the rest and it could get ugly.
very ugly, teams in California, Chicago and New York will for sure not allow fans back initially and if they do at some point it will be limited but that likely will not be until at least mid season.
I want to be wrong about this, but anybody thinking everything is going back to normal in 2021 season is dreaming.
The biggest concern of all, I don’t think the Union is going to buy the owners loss of revenue and will call BS, and CBA is going to get very nasty which likely means 2022 season is at risk.
Precedent would say the twenty*twenty-one* season is at risk if you are correct.
The mlbpa may decide to strike…in say June, July,or August of ’21. As opposed to going through a winter lockout. That’s typically been their play.
Uh?
Which… sucks even more.
So let me get this straight. Somebody writes
” California, Chicago and New York will for sure not allow fans back ”
And I can’t say I doubt that is true and list CDC data to back up my opinion? Has this turned into Facebook and Twitter.
Are you kidding me?
Again, CDC survival rates
New COVID-19 survival rates per CDC:
0-19: 99.997%
20-49: 99.98%
50-69: 99.5%
I believe something differently. I believe by next seasons we will have fans back in the stadiums.
I believe this is still America where people can express a difference of opinion. Am I wrong?
If I’m the players I wouldn’t buy the owners’ claims, either. I don’t buy the owners’ claims. It’s a public sympathy ploy, same as most of what they do. I hope there isn’t a strike in ’22, but I’d certainly understand if there was.
Not true, great fake percentages though
Those are CDC numbers. Not fake.
This isn’t America this is the internet which believe it or not America doesn’t own.
I believe the people who run this site are Americans. I’m certainly not going to give my money to an Iranian country. This is baseball, not rugby.
I have no problem with people saying stadiums are still going to be closed in April. I just completely disagree. Two companies say they will have a vaccine in December and the survival rate among the healthy is very high.
My opinion should not offend anyone. Their opinion doesn’t offend me.
Third leading cause of death behind Heart disease and Cancer, which are not contagious. ICU’s in the red state where I live, where most people do not mask or socially distance, are overflowing. The average ICU visit costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. For one person. We have several dozen at any point in time. The healthcare costs of this pandemic (and the funeral costs) alone are enormous. Unlike the flu, which comes and goes in a day or two, it lasts for weeks if not months. It’s a nasty illness as well as cause of death. That’s what the fuss is about. Oh, yeah, my mother died of Covid.
@Halo11Fan
Just an FYI, not trying to start an argument. You do realize that those numbers are the percentages of the total population who die from it, not the % of the infected who die. 9 million people in the US have been infected by the Coronavirus and 228,000 have died. That comes out to 1 in 40 infected people who die. That is 2.5%.
I hate that people don’t wear masks. Every time I leave the house, I wear a mask. But that’s not really the point.
I’ve also had the flu last more than a week many times. Ten days ago, Covid contributed to the death of my 91 year old Uncle. My 80 something year old aunt didn’t even know she had it. My Uncle would be alive today if he made different choices.
It’s a weird virus.
My belief is that when the political season ends, Covid will become less political and baseball will once again be played with fans this March.
We will see. I could be wrong. I have no issue with anyone who disagrees with me.
Who said your not allowed to voice your opinion? I’m here in SoCal and I can’t see fans packing stadiums till 2022. 25 percent doesn’t count
Check the CDC website.
Most people that get it have very mild symptoms. Some have none at all. If you are healthy and under 60 this virus is not a serious threat.
That is IFR, infection fatality rate. That is like saying that the mortality rate of being born is 2% since the turn of the century.
CFR of COVID is 4.58% as of today. That measures the fatality rate of cases that have run their curse and there was either a death or a recovery.
BTW, the CDC doesn’t give survival rates, they give fatality rates.
My friend’s daughter is in her late 20’s with no health issues. She caught covid and was sick for almost two months. She now is asthmatic and has permanent 50% loss of one of her lungs. I am sure that she does not agree with you bellybombs.
@hockeyjohn Yeah, she had a terrible experience with the disease, so why would she agree with statistics that say it’s not that bad? Considering the emotional effec of her condition on your daughter and you as a result, why would any of you view those statistics in a favorable light?
Imagine that friend is seriously injured by someone for not wearing a mask. Would she feel the same way about those statistics if that had happened instead?
In any case, it all comes down to what happens to us as individuals and how we perceive it. I personally don’t think it’s as infectious as people make it out to be, but I do think it is an issue that should be treated with care for the sake of those whom live.
To each their own, I suppose.
the yankees already have a plan approved by the governor to allow limited fans this past season but mlb didn’t allow fans during the regular season.
I don’t understand why people don’t believe that owners lost a ton of money this year. Just do some simple math. Let’s say average attendance at a ballpark is 25,000 people and each person, on average spends $60 in the stadium between ticket prices, food, parking and merchandise. They have 81 home games. That amounts to $121.5M of revenue that owners lost by not having fans in the ballpark. On average, 40%+ of teams’ revenue comes from game day (fan spending). Do you really think any team made a profit this year by losing this much money? There’s no chance in hell they did. Also, tv viewership was way down this year, so advertising rates go down and tv revenue contracts with the teams are adjusted accordingly too (downward). If I were to take an educated guess, I’d say the average team lost $40M of real cash this year in a prorated season. Has they played an entire 162 game schedule with full pay and no fans, that average loss goes up to approximately $110M which is staggering. With no idea what 2021 holds for us from a pandemic perspective, teams are going to plan for the worst and tighten the purse strings. This doesn’t even account for the losses associated with draft pick signings and minor league salaries & development either. It’s going to be an ugly season for free agents and arbitration eligible players. They’ll either have to accept one year deals at 50% of what they expected to make or look elsewhere to play (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc). The fact that teams are laying off 20%+ of their front office staff shows how bad the economics of baseball are and they could get even worse if we can’t get this pandemic under control.
Wanted to clear up my comment real quick, because I’m a stickler for making my words clear as crystals. Plus it makes me feel good about myself.
Even though I don’t think the COVID is that contagious, that is a opinion with no facts and only self-expirience. I always wear a mask when in or near a public domain and around other people because even though I have my on opinions, I’m still going to follow the guidelines without skirting around them. Mostly because it’s mandatory but also because I the thought of accidentally infecting someone else without knowing anything about them is a nightmare in the far-reaches of my mind.
I don’t like the idea of people thinking I put others at risk because of my opinion, at least in this specific case.
With that I’m done ranting at myself through a mirror about this. Back to sports.
I don’t understand why people don’t believe that owners lost a ton of money this year. Just do some simple math. Let’s say average attendance at a ballpark is 25,000 people and each person, on average spends $60 in the stadium between ticket prices, food, parking and merchandise. They have 81 home games. That amounts to $121.5M of revenue that owners lost by not having fans in the ballpark. On average, 40%+ of teams’ revenue comes from game day (fan spending). Do you really think any team made a profit this year by losing this much money? There’s no chance in hell they did. Also, tv viewership was way down this year, so advertising rates go down and tv revenue contracts with the teams are adjusted accordingly too (downward). If I were to take an educated guess, I’d say the average team lost $40M of real cash this year in a prorated season. Has they played an entire 162 game schedule with full pay and no fans, that average loss goes up to approximately $110M which is staggering. With no idea what 2021 holds for us from a pandemic perspective, teams are going to plan for the worst and tighten the purse strings. This doesn’t even account for the losses associated with draft pick signings and minor league salaries & development either. It’s going to be an ugly season for free agents and arbitration eligible players. They’ll either have to accept one year deals at 50% of what they expected to make or look elsewhere to play (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc). The fact that teams are laying off 20%+ of their front office staff shows how bad the economics of baseball are and they could get even worse if we can’t get this pandemic under control. Baseball is in real trouble for years to come.
Again, it’s not all about dying. You can have serious complications
Jacob Cook, You misunderstood my comment. I commented to bellybombs comment that the virus is no threat to those under 60. I was trying to tell him that it does threaten the way of life for some under 60. I am so tired of the narrative that covid is a hoax and just like the flu. Over 225 million Americans have died, many that are much younger than 60. We have become so selfish as a nation. It is very simple to me. Wear a mask when out and practice social distancing. In my mind, that is not too much to ask.
Wait, 225 million Americans have died? Of what? When?
sorry, 225 thousand Americans. It is still too many and many more than it would have been.
Thanks for the clarification.
It’s 100% when your Mom dies from it.
I’ll claim him!
I want him to claim my taxes.
Remember when he would cost
You you’re too draft pick to trade for him?
No, I don’t remember that especially since MLB does not allow you to trade your normal draft picks.
Wow. I can’t imagine he WON’T be claimed. Many of the bottom dwellers won’t pay the money… where do you think he lands?
I wouldn’t rule a bottom dweller out. You claim him, pitch him for a few months to trim down some salary and flip him at the deadline for a solid prospect or two. There is always a team needing a RP in July.
Dodgers
Dodgers.
Oh god, Dodger fans are the new Yankee fans. He won’t make it to your team.
the mets. With their new billion dollar owner who didn’t lose any money last season and wants to make a splash. They have been rumored with all the top free agents. They could pick up hand and have a solid back 3 of the bullpen with Betances, Diaz, and Hand for a cheap price.
What’s the waiver priority list?
Worst to best in the AL then the NL.
League-wide reverse standings. League-specific waiver priority was in regard to revocable August trade waivers, which no longer exist.
has there really never been a priority to outright waivers? i swear there was.
Low revenue in 2020. Uncertain status for 2021 re fans in the ballpark and length of the season. This might provide a telling glimpse of what to expect this winter. It wouldn’t be shocking if quite a few teams passed on Hand.
I’m pretty sure Alex Rios was about 10 years ago by the Blue Jays. And the White Sox claimed him and took on the remaining salary. Which was several years left on the contract.
Thank you for clearing that up, @Steve Adams.
I was unclear as to the rule. So with no more August deadline *all* waiver claims go by league wide record.
Correct?
Should be AL in order of worst record to best, then NL.
Again Philly’s gotta be champing at the bit rn. You could add him, Osuna & a guy like James McCann for much cheaper than it would cost to retain JTR and you’re laughing. Is JTR eligible for a QO as well?
he is. good thing is he just said all else equal salery wise he would chose Philly over NY teams, so that could ammount to some money saved. that said, I still think McCann could be a better value play.
Upvote for correct usage of the phase “champing at the bit”
Agreed. It almost makes up for all the times when people type “resign” when they mean “re-sign.” And when you correct them, they respond by calling you a “looser.”
No Osuna….We already have two relievers who should have had TJ but didn’t.
Beggars can’t be choosers?
If they let Neris and his estimated $7 Million in arbitration go, this is a no-brainer pick up for only $3 Million more than Neris would have cost. Brad Hand is quietly one of the best closers in the game.
Every team should put in a claim but teams are crying poor
Yep. This will give us a glimpse of how the off-season might go.
hopefully orioles can claim him, they need a solid reliever
I’d say maybe. He would definitely be good for a swap-for-prospects trade before or during next year’s tradeline.
However, wth him hypothetically hitting FA in 2022 in this scenario and the possibility of more delays next year and another shortened season (more games or same as 2020), I don’t see the Orioles claiming him. You also have Teams now acting wary of spending too much on players, regardless of how true, regardless of how justified/unjustified those actions may be, is just another reason that the O’s do NOT claim him.
Marlins please
interesting, I would’ve thought he’d have trade value
The Phillies might claim him. The only issue that I see is that they don’t have a GM yet.
Rice is interim. i assume he has the power for this sort of move of Middleton okays it.
The Mets make sense, and they’re not far from the bottom.
They’ll do it if he’s there. Doubt it, but if he is…
Not sure the Mets can (or would) claim him until the sale to Cohen is finalized. With the mayor of NY not approving Cohen, this is going to cause a serious delay in Cohen taking control of the Mets (NYC leases the land to the Mets and the mayor can object to an ownership change under the current agreement). Deblassio is a buffoon.
The mayor has no legal room to stand on – sale will be complete in days
Well I’d like to see him in a cardinals jersey, but that’s not going to happen.
This may have gotten Zaidi’s attention, but he’ll never make it to the NL. Yes, he’ll cost $10M for the season, but 1) Among the lower teams, the Giants are one of the only ones who have the $$; and 2) Zaidi will just flip him at the deadline to a contender for another piece.
He rightfully could also pass, thinking that renting a closer for half a season isn’t worth $5-6M, but it’s not like he’d be blocking an internal closer option they have right now.
Can’t teams offer a trade to prevent the claiming process? If so, Giants could offer something like a Chris Shaw for him.
Nope. When revocable August trade waivers were in place, a club could place a claim then try to work out a trade. That’s not how it works with outright waivers. Any team that claims him gets him — period.
Steve, can one of the bottom teams claim Hand and then trade him to a contender, or is there some kind of waiting period that forbids it?
Why not, @cey hey?
He’s the same as any other waiver claim (though significantly better).
Ducky, that’s how I see it. So if a team like the Yankees or Dodgers want him, their best option is to arrange for one of the bottom teams to claim him and then make a trade without that team. The Yankees or Dodgers get Hand, the claiming team gets a decent prospect or two (and the prospects needn’t be elite as Hand will be in the final year of his deal).
Hoping he straight falls to the Yanks & Hal decides this year is not the year to dip below the CBT.
More than likely that’s wishful thinking…on both.
But, yeah, Brad Hand waiver claim is the same as Ronald Torreyes waiver claim. In terms of process. Not talent.
Congrats to your Dodgers, man.
If a team claims a player off waivers and has a viable claim as described above, his current team (the “waiving team”) may choose one of the following options:
– arrange a trade with the claiming team for that player within two business days of the claim; or
– refuse the claiming team’s request and keep the player on its major league roster, effectively canceling the waiver; or
– do nothing and allow the claiming team to do three things: assume the player’s existing contract, pay the waiving team a waiver fee, and place the player on its active major league roster.
That is under the old rules. Waiver trades were abolished in August of 2019. Now no trades of any kind are allowed between the trade deadline and the start of the offseason. And once the offseason starts the Indians are free to trade Brad Hand to whoever they want for whatever they can get.
Although I do wonder why they would waive him in the first place if he does have trade value.
If Farhan’s not in on Hand, he’s nuts. Can you imagine getting him and then adding Trevor May or Liam Hendriks. In one off season he’d be re-creating the SF bullpen to one that’s useful. But, of course, some team ahead of the Giants will pick him up.
Guessing a lot of teams will put in a claim, but many will come up empty-Handed.
Probably gets claimed by the angels or rangers.
I believe he’ll be moving to Boston.
Only if Chaim actually believes the Red Sox will contend in the AL East in 2021….which means they have to climb over either the Yankees of Rays, with the Blue Jays actually climbing……nah, don’t think so. At least a year too early.
would be a smart pick up if they flip him at the deadline for prospects
Rays might claim him and turn him into the next Mariano Rivera
He’ll never make it to the Rays and the Rays don’t do business this way with their payroll.
I know he’ll probably get claimed by a bad record team like PIT or AZ but boy id love him on the Giants
Blue Jays!
Getting Hand off waivers is like a five finger discount
But this Hand will cost 8 digits
That’s what Five Finger Mary promotes…minus the discount.
Just another reminder that we’re in for an unprecedented offseason. Terrible time to be a free agent. On the other hand, there’s going to be a lot of good baseball players to be had for cheap.
Sit tight because between this season, this offseason, and the next CBA, it’s going to be PR hell as millionaires and billionaires bicker over money.
Why would Cleveland let go of a 10 m closer who can do a good job? Something is amiss here.
If you ever lived in Cleveland and rooted for the Indians….for the Indians organization it’s being rather cheap and about revenue….you’ve already seem the Dodgers claim they lost $125 million this past year and with another Covid wave either here or coming, there’s no guarantee that come Spring Training things in baseball will be back to normal which means the possibility of NO fans in the stands spending big money! My guess is Cleveland is counting their lost revenues and figuring that if they couldn’t make it to the World Series with Hand, they might as well save the money and do the same without him. Plus, they have other priorities like what to do about Lindor and of course their outfield!
screw the rona, always going to be here, so everyone better get used to it
Because they’re cheap.
He had another solid year in 2020.. but his velo is down, FB% is way up, he has dealt with arm fatigue, and he is on the wrong side of 30.
That is not to diminish his contributions in Cleveland. He had 2.5 solid years and that Mejia trade is looking really good so far.
We will see how it turns out but the Indians have done well not signing some of their big name relievers (Allen, Shaw, Miller) recently.
Have you looked at the list of free agents and how many current and recent closers are available at the same time?! Why pay 10MM for a closer when they will be available for 5MM. Tigers could claim him at $10MM, or sign Shawn Greene for 5MM and with the volatility of relievers, its 50/50 who ends up with the better nos.
Cleveland is crying poor.
It would really help things in Cleveland if fans actually went to the games (pre COVID of course). Jacobs Field is still a beautiful ballpark but they barely sell 50% of the seats for most home games and they offer a competitive product too. Shameful; I thought Cleveland was supposed to be a sports town.
phillies claim him and decline neris stupid $8mil option
that in addition to the morgan/ hembree release pays for it
What?! He’s an amazing reliever! Go get him
Jays!
And people thought I was crazy to suggest Kris Bryant may be non-tendered.
Hand has been a dominate reliever for several years and the Indians cut ties with him thinking they could trade him and his 10 million dollars?
You are crazy to think that.
These are crazy times though.
Bryant blows
Look, I get it. But he is a former ROY and MVP who has a career .280/.380/.508 slash, even with his down years. I admit he has been injury-prone and had a bad 2020, but to say he blows is a little rough.
Hand had solid numbers this year but I wouldn’t call him dominant.
His flyball percentage has been climbing and last year he did not give up any HR during the regular season. Combine that with a career low BABIP and you get the impression that a fair amount of luck may have factored into his solid numbers. Add his issues with arm fatigue, his age, and that he has lost 2 MPH on his average FB velocity over the last two years.
He will definitely get a major league deal somewhere but I don’t know if anyone will claim him.
Well said, CK. I agree 100%
I’d be surprised if he goes past the Red Sox. Pirates may not pick him up because they are cheap, but the Rangers, Tigers and Red Sox all have deep pockets and are desperate for trade-able assets.
Also… If this caliber of players is shown the door with an affordable option, the CBA negotiations are going to be very messy.
No NL team will get a chance at him. I also believe the Red Sox will be the team that gets the claim
If I am not mistaken, I think they eliminated the waiver priority for different leagues. So the Pirates should have first chance at him. But I doubt the Pirates have any intention in trying next year. The Rangers or Tigers could make a claim with the intent on trading him though. All I know is that if he makes it past the Rockies, I am done.
You can bet Andrew Friedman is in conversations with some of the bottom teams trying to orchestrate a Hand-for-prospects trade.
Waiver goes through all the American League teams first then goes to national league. He under normal circumstances will never reach any national league team but normal circumstances means he would never have been cut in the first place so who knows. This offseason will be a interesting one. Wouldn’t want to be a free agent this year. A lot of one year deals might occur.
Not anymore. Its all MLB teams in order of worst record to best.
Jesus Christ, TEXAS!!! You have a great opportunity here to grab a great player that can easily be a trade piece!!! Best opportunity in a while to just get something handed (hehe) to you! DO IT! We all know Pitt won’t.
The Dodgers would be the perfect trade partner. Friedman will be looking for a closer and has a nice pool of prospects for the Rangers to choose from.
I could see that for a Gonsolin or Gray. They could join KeKe or Pederson who I fill Rangers will pursue in FA.
It wouldn’t be that high of a prospect for one year of Hand. A good one, though, and maybe two along with someone off the big-league roster. The Dodgers will be looking to clear space on their 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 draft. Maybe something like P Mitch White or OF D.J. Peters along with Matt Beaty. The Dodgers are deep in middle infield prospects should the Rangers want to go in that direction. Not a franchise-altering package but reasonable considering the Rangers would essentially be getting these guys for “free” as they would have no intention of keeping Hand. Both sides fill needs: the Dodgers get a late-inning reliever, the Rangers get young players who would be more than just organizational depth pieces The Rangers could then look to sign Hernandez and Pederson relatively cheap in what figures to be a depressed FA market, assuming the Dodgers don’t keep either.
The two teams should talk. If I’m the Rangers, I would want a pitcher and a middle infielder as those are areas where the Dodgers’ system is deep. It will be interesting to see what the Dodgers do now that the pressure of winning a World Series no longer exists.
@Rangers 29. Is Jesus involved in this transaction?
And looking at this move, is this Dolan trying to say that they are keeping Lindor? Or does he just not want to spend any money?
classic cheap Indians. hope Philly takes a look.
Our could be a sign how bad the finances are around the league are. Even if the Indians are being cheap here, he it totally worth $10 million and could of traded him easily and got something in return. This is a no-brainer option to pick without the COVID.
This is a smart FO, they just don’t dump top of the line relievers for nothing, if they feel they can trade him they would of picked up his option, but they likely felt the market and it was to risky that there will not be any takers for Hand at $10 million.
Now we will really find out how bad it is, if no team claims him which I have a feeling no team will.
Rangers should claim and then immediately try to move Leclerc to Yankees, Mets, Braves or Padres.
LeClerc combined with Lynn, might get Luchesi and Mejia from SD, Duvall or Folty from Atl JD Davis from Mets or Andujar or Voit from Yankees.
I hate to burst your homer filled bubble, but saying that we can either get Folty or Voit for the same package is ludicrous. I could imagine getting a Bryan Abreu centered package from the Astros, or maybe even just Clint Frazier for Lynn and Leclerc straight up. IMO the package I would love to see is Lynn and Leclerc to the Astros for Whitley… that’s it. Whitley’s stock has fallen some, and he would be the only piece in return for a CY Young candidate and a young reliever that would probably go back to form with Houston. I need to see it.
No bubble burst, just economics. Folty, Toussaint, and Newcombe are all past history in ATL, they like one year established low contracts and they will be trading INciarte or Duvall. to make room for Waters. Whitley would be good but think Astros would that within the division. Frazier, I would like and he had good numbers this year but is basically just corner OF whereas Andujar could be corner IF or OF so more versatility. Same with Davis from Mets, who really has no place to play in their current set up.
Tbh if andujar went to the rangers he’d remind me of Beltre with the bat. Definitely not with the glove though
Hand will be 32 by opening day. It would be smarter for the Rangers to claim him and then trade him to a contender that won’t be able to get him off waivers. Is that allowed?
Yes it is. They can pick up his option and immediately trade him.
This is an easy choice for the Angels and would slide right into a much needed closer role. The one year makes it even better, bridge until the Pujols money goes away. Worst case you trade him at the deadline ifbthe Angels are sucking again.
Get it done now!
Unfortunately for the Angels Hand will be claimed before he gets to them. I think the Rangers will jump on him, and if not, the Red Sox will claim him.
You are likely correct, but he will not get beyond the Angels.
No doubt the Angels need this guy, but if he slides this far and they don’t claim him it’s clear they won’t be spending much in this covid economy.
Clearly, Cleveland wants to give the other MLB teams a HAND !!
Does anyone seriously think they aren’t trading Lindor?? Good thing for their GM that Mejia is looking like a bust.
Ha. The way the Indians are crying poverty, they might as well trade Lindor for Mejia.
Angels, grab him!
He won’t make it that far down the list.
The Indians continue to be a joke of a franchise. If they don’t want to be a major league team, why not just put in a request to get demoted to AAA? That’ll save them a couple of bucks.
“a joke of a franchise”? that’s pretty harsh for a team that leads the AL in wins since 2013, and has the most 90 win seasons in that same span in the AL.
I’m not defending the payroll, because I’m sure they make plenty of money. but saying they’re a joke is just not based in fact
a joke of a franchise? that’s a bit harsh when the team has the best record in the AL since 2013.
All-Time Body Parts Bullpen:
Rollie Fingers
Roy Face
Brad Hand
Phil Knuckles
Ed Head
Dick Pole
Bullpen catcher: Barry Foote
Very good. But let’s not fill out the entire roster for fear of entering Pete LaCock and Rusty Kuntz territory.
Don’t forget HOFer Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown. Yeah it’s a nickname, but Dick is a nickname for Richard, so it plays. Plus he’d pitch more innings that the rest of the group combined.
The bullpen can have the day off on days when he starts. There’s an obvious Kevin Cash joke there though, in my opinion, the guy has already suffered enough.
You forgot Cannonball Titcomb
Dick Padden
Urban Shocker
Chief Bender
Dick has always been proud of his surname.
H-A-N-D that spells collusion.
It’s coming.
Welcome to Anaheim
Thanks for the laugh. No way he makes it that far down the list.
there is only the red sox before the angels that can add that kind of salary. even they are trying to lower their expenses
The can all add that kind of salary they just don’t want to.
If the Indians couldn’t even get a team to trade them anything for him, does anyone honestly think there will be a much of a market for picking up his present contract?
Exactly. Just about every single team could have acquired him via trade for practically nothing and a deal did not materialized. It’s possible he gets claimed but definitely not a sure thing.
Every team should claim him if the opportunity comes to them. Trade him at the deadline. There’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal.
I hope he falls to the Angels.
Come back home to Miami, Brad!
The Angels bullpen could use a Hand.
Good. Now trade the brat.
Yankees should get a Hand instead of Britton. I would gladly trade Andujar to Rangers for LeClerc.
I wonder if he had a hand in this decision.
Angels need to pick him up fast. Hand could really shore up their bullpen problems.
stop bringing shame to the indians! i mean the real indians in india#
Dodgers should definitely claim Hand. No-brainer move!
He won’t drop that far unless there’s obvious collusion. Arrange for someone like Texas to claim him and send a prospect or two to the Rangers in a trade.
It’s outright waivers, so there is no trade required.
I’m talking about the Rangers picking him up off waivers and then trading him elsewhere.
I’m willing to bet the Cleveland front office called all other 29 GMs about a trade for Hand. If no team was willing to strike a deal for Hand directly from Cleveland, why would they want to do so now with a team who picks him up early on waivers? Based on the minor return they got for 1 year of Kluber (plus an option year) I’m sure it wasn’t a case of Cleveland asking for too much in prospect capital. It has to do with the economic uncertainty of the upcoming season and all 29 teams deciding they didn’t want to trade any prospects to take on an additional $10M in payroll expense for a very good, but no longer great reliever. They are all banking on players being much more affordable this offseason given the market conditions. I’d guess there’s only about a 20% chance that Hand gets claimed off waivers by any team. They’d rather see him become a FA and negotiate a better deal (2/12 or 2/14). Every penny counts this offseason, more than it ever has.
100% agree with ya, Cyril Figgus.
Not a good year to be a free agent. Teams lost a lot of revenue due to Covid, and the early indications are that many are unwilling to spend. Teams that are willing may have an unprecedented opportunity this winter.
Hope my Sox claim him…we don’t have anyone close to his caliber and at $10M that’s not unreasonable for him
I always defend the tribe trying to manage a tight budget. But this move here takes the cake I haven’t seen a move this cheap since somebody bought their employees the jelly of the month club for Christmas. What’s next trading in a full book of green stamps to acquire the next player?
while this may not be the only reason…
Brad Hand has a ONE year remaining on his contract.. By going this route, the Indians bring Hand the best chance to receive the stated contract value. FOR Brad Hand.. The Indians do not want to impede his departure to another team by adding cost (prospects) nor do they believe they need Hand’s services in 2021.. The Indians bullpen, like their starting pitching, is deep and talented.. This allows the Indians to pivot to a newer/less expensive/talented closer.. opens a 40 man spot and facilitates Hand getting the amount of money he signed for..
Thoughts?..
Good analysis. My opinion is that this will be the first of many such moves we’ll see this winter. Deep revenue losses in 2020 with more looming for 2021 if there is a longer schedule with no or limited attendance. Teams will be looking to cut payroll and the players will be furious. The two sides will fight and call each other names as the number of games continues to drop. While I get where both sides are coming, this is going to be difficult for fans to endure yet again. There is also the pending Dodgergate “scandal” with Juston Turner that directly ties into the pandemic that has created the animosity.
It will be interesting to see what the two sides learned from their 2020 restart and if any of it will even matter. With payroll slashes coming one case at a time, the anger of the players will build slowly be steady. We’ve already seen other players placed on outright waivers including Roberto Osuna. I hope I’m wrong about all of this, but we’ve been here before and we fans need to brace ourselves for a worst-case-scenario in these uncertain times. If I was an Indians fan, I would fear Lindor being traded fr pennies on the dollar. I might even expect it.
Bingo. The CLE front office is doing Brad Hand a solid once they decided they aren’t bringing him back for 2021. Taking this approach brings you goodwill with current players, future players, and agents. Smart business.
I don’t think they would have put him on waivers unless they explored trade opportunities. Logically, they would have preferred trading him for nothing to waivers. That being said, it seems that every team had a chance to acquire Hand’s contract and passed.
It is still possible he gets claimed but it seems like there could be league-wide consensus that he is not worth $10 million in 2021.
I mentioned it in the prior post, but his velo is down, FB% is up, he has dealt with arm fatigue and he is getting up there in age. I appreciate the solid performance he has had the last few years but it seems like he is on the downward slide.. like many other relievers around this age.
Yep, relievers like Kenley Jansen whose decline was something of a hot topic during the post-season.
CKinSTL, do you think this was more about Hand starting to slide or an indication of how the player market will be this winter? All those teams passing on Hand would seem to be a red flag about something. Looking at the free-agent list, it is loaded with players who are well past a prime that wasn’t great to begin with.
Back to SD?
Not surprising, the Indians trying to save a million by waiving him instead of simply declining his option
I think I just heard every Angels fan collectively draw in a breath and hold it.
Wow. This is shocking. No surprise that it’s the Indians that do something like this first. Hey Indian fans..wouldn’t you say it’s time to find a new favorite team? Might I suggest the Washington Nationals? They were terrible this season so that should take care of any band wagon accusations. They’re close by, management is pretty good and willing to spend some money so you probably won’t have to wait too long for them to be good again. Or you could find a fan of another team and be sponsored by them and be a fan of that team.
Just thinking, with the management the Indians have, you may want to consider abandoning ship.
The Rockies have a higher priority and they just had $36 million in bullpen payroll in Davis, Shaw, and McGee expire. He’ll never get to the Angels.
It was a joke. I’m aware the Angels are pretty far away. Just a joke.
In the MLB waiver go from worst record to best record of the league the player was dropped from to the worst record to best record of the opposite league. This case the Angels have the 6th waiver wire and in this case Rockies will be 19th.
Not anymore it doesn’t. They abolished that rule.
Indians fans are loyal fans.
Then why don’t they go to the games? (Pre-COVID of course). This team has had the most wins in the AL since 2013 but they struggle to fill 1/2 the stadium on most nights. If fans actually paid to go to the games, waiving Hand or trading Lindor, Clevinger, etc.would not have happened.
This move is pretty darn surprising, but is not at all about Cleveland being “cheap.” Apparently there was no trade market for the guy, that’s what is surprising. The Cleveland FO is one of the very best, and surely would have taken any legitimate return for Hand. But GSon is right, they always do right by their players, and I agree that this move, while having the benefit of getting Clev off the hook for the $1M buyout, potentially greatly benefits Hand by locking in his $10M, at least for the moment…
Would like to see the Yankees claim him if they lose Britton, because while they can be good at times, I would not be that comfortable with having Green or Ottavino as the 8th inning guy.
Why wouldn’t the Tigers grab him just to have a valuable asset? If he doesn’t spoil he could bring competing bids before the trade deadline…..
Because that would be a $6M – $7M gamble for them (salary paid prior to trade deadline) hoping he’s good enough to net a prospect package worth the $6M investment. Given the economic uncertainty of next year, I’d be shocked if a non-contender claimed him at that price tag just hoping to deal him for prospects in July. Too expensive and too risky.
Calling Ned Rice……
Hey SalaryCap, wake up to reality.
The problem of baseball’s financial issues–especially for small-market teams–is not going to be solved by Cleveland Indians fans going shopping for another .05% super-billionaire that they like better than the one they have because he spends more money. That’s a really tired story and doesn’t acknowledge the fact that the MLB business model has some serious systemic economic issues to solve, issues that are only being exacerbated by the current stress on the system due to COVID.
These stresses are felt even greater by the small-market teams. Telling local Ohio fans (who themselves have been hit extremely hard by COVID and the economic fallout) to find another big-market billionaire rich guy to idolize is worse than dumb…
Pathofkindness, good stuff regarding the realities of COVID baseball. Hand and Osuna being outrighted are indicators of what the player market will be like this winter. Given the uncertain financial outlook heading into the 2021 season, owners will be looking to slash payroll like never before. One way to do it is by not investing in the always-volatile reliever market. A team can pay three kid pitchers making the league minimum considerably less than a low-cost FA option like Pedro Baez or Darren O’Day. If I’m reconfiguring my bullpen, I would rather do it with kids already in-house than up-and-down veterans. It’s possible that 2021 becomes the year of the rookie reliever for no other reason than to save money. We will probably see a large number of newcomers at other positions as well.
Consider this: In the just-completed 60-game season, there were 212 players who made their MLB debut, including 134 pitchers (actually 132 pitchers as two were position players mopping up). These first-time pitchers accounted for 12.2% of all the innings pitched for the season. Look for an increased workload from some combination of that group in 2021, along with another class of first-timers providing 10% or more of the total innings. By a conservative estimate, it’s not unreasonable to think these two groups of pitchers might log more than 30% of all innings in 2021. That’s nearly a third of the innings by pitchers who hadn’t sniffed the big leagues prior to the pandemic. With the questionable status of the minor league season, these kids will need to pitch somewhere. Fringe players will invariably be younger, while the older ones who make the cut will be getting paid far less than they are accustomed.
Re small market teams: Ideally, the expanded playoffs is their savior. But given the current economics, the impact won’t be the same as it would minus COVID. These teams will get fleeced by major-market teams in the short term. The Indians will essentially dump Lindor just to stay afloat. I hate that for baseball, While my team is a major market powerhouse, I am first and foremost a fan of the game. There is nothing attractive about watching a star-studded, big-league squad beat up on a team of players who aren’t close to being MLB-ready.
Really great post Cey Hey. Too many good points to note, but so interesting,
As you imply, the narrative for small-market teams like Cleveland who will need to unload their star player and not resign another fan favorite (Santana) will suddenly change from “cheap” or even “rebuild” to basically “stay afloat!”…some fans won’t believe this because they have a fascination with the billionaire owners who they think should just keep throwing money at overpriced, not very good players.
Don’t get me wrong, I definitely want to players to get paid what they are due and even share in the profits (this is a key part of the MLB economic dysfunction), but the current economics simply don’t work when you have a fan base that is relatively small (<1-2M?) and primarily working class.
Cleveland has a relatively deep farm system and is pretty good at developing pitchers (even though they have had difficulty developing relief pitchers), so maybe this situation you describe will work in their favor…?
The back end of the Indian bullpen will be James Karinchak who just completed his rookie season and fireballer Emmanuel Clase, the reliever that the Indians acquired for one inning of Corey Kluber.
With regards to the fan base. Cleveland is the second smallest metropolitan area that has three major league sports teams counting Green Bay as part of the Milwaukee market. Cleveland’s economy, even pre covid, was not in good shape. Cleveland’s TV ratings are among the highest in MLB. Personally, I try to make the 2 1/2 hour trip two or three times a season.
The biggest problem in baseball is the economic setup of MLB and I am afraid it will get worse in the next CBA. Right now, teams like the Indians, Tampa, and Oakland have to be operated almost perfectly to stay competitive. They can not afford to make contractual mistakes that the large markets can and still survive.
Astros could use him.
Mets should make a move here if he lands in their lap.
This move just proves how cheap the Indians are
The Dolans should just sell the team. They complain each year that they are losing money. With COVID, they will probably go bankrupt so might as well sell now.
Rizzo typically builds his bullpens on the fly(mixed results) but I have to think he would consider making a claim, if it gets to,him.
I feel for the Indians fans. Brad Hand was a finalist for the 2020 AL Reliever of the Year Award (mlb.com/news/al-nl-reliever-of-the-year-award-fina…) and the Cleveland organization puts him on outright waivers because of a $10MM 2021 contract option and a $1MM buyout? How much cheaper can they get? All this is clearly pointing to a trade of Francisco Lindor this offseason.
Lindor will go for peanuts and I will be infuriated, even if my team is the one that lands him.
The Red Sox should 100% claim him and pick up his option. They desperately need bullpen help and this is seriously like a Christmas present gift-wrapped with a bow and everything for them. $10M is a significant amount of $ but 100% worth it if pitches even close to how he did in the shortened 2020 season. If the Red Sox pass on him they should be ashamed! (assuming he makes it to them… there are technically like 3/4 teams ahead of them in the waiver order)
Come on Red Sox. Play your Hand.
Probably a dumb (and hypothetical) question..
Let’s say team A wants him really bad, but their rival, or whoever..we’ll call them team B..knows this and has a worse record. Is it possible for team B to claim him, with the sole intention of immediately trading his rights without picking up the option..er no?
Not a dumb question, but yes you can trade him after claiming him. The assumption here is the Indians have been trying to trade him…
Team A would have already done a deal with Cleveland if they wanted him so badly. Cleveland offered him up to all other 29 teams and no one bit, so why would Team A trade for him 2 or 3 days later through a different team? I’m sure Cleveland was not asking much for him if their primary intention was salary relief.
Unless it was a division rival of Cleveland and they chose not to trade him to that team..? Or the team(s) looking to acquire him asked them to eat most of the remaining salary..?
They would (in theory) take whatever offer they got if they knew the end result was outright waivers, regardless of what team offered it.
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It’s been 72years without a world championship. With moves like these it’ll be another 72 years. You give up an all-star reliever and get nothing back. Not even an effort to resign Hernandez.. What are they going to put on the field next year? A minor league team. Man if you can’t field a decent team it’s time to get out of town. Why don’t they admit that there’s going to be a major rebuild coming and stop fooling everyone.
If fans actually supported the team and showed up at games (pre-Covid of course) then this would all be moot. The fact is that Cleveland is a small market team (tv revenue wise) so they depend on day of game revenues much more than big market teams do. With their paltry attendance numbers and low revenue broadcast deals, the fans (or lack thereof) have forced the owners hand. COVID has increased this revenue shortfall tenfold.
I’m a little confused. A lot of people think their team should jump at the chance to get him. If that’s true (and I’m not arguing as I have a slim hope he somehow lasts until the White Sox could pick him up), then why wouldn’t Cleveland just pick up the option and trade him? Better to get a lottery ticket or future utility guy than just nothing, isn’t it?
COVID-19 has created an uncertainty with everything and there’s a chance they take the option just to flip him and they end up getting stuck with him. They did exactly that with Kluber but knew they’d have enough suitors lined up and wouldn’t be stuck with him, but Hand it’s not so certain.
As Dorothy so smartly offered about 150 posts ago, prior to this (unprecedented and bellweather-type) move you can be damn sure that the Cleveland FO checked in with every other MLB team to see if they were willing to trade something for Hand…apparently there was no market, and maybe there’s no market even now! Buckle your seatbelts folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride…
It’s obvious there was no market to trade for a player at that price when he cleared waivers.
The perplexing part is Cleveland willing to give up this guy to save one million. All I can say is screw COVID and screw the absurd economics of this game
Can’t believe Houston didn’t make a claim on him. Saving for Springer?