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Rockies Sign Brad Hand

By Mark Polishuk | March 6, 2023 at 7:13pm CDT

MARCH 6: The 2024 option would convert into a mutual option if Hand either finishes 25 games or is traded at any point during the upcoming season, reports the Associated Press. Hand could earn an additional $1MM in performance bonuses both this season and during 2024 (if the option is triggered). He’d receive $250K apiece at 40 and 50 appearances and $500K if he gets into 60 games.

MARCH 4: The Rockies announced agreement with reliever Brad Hand on a one-year deal on Saturday. It’s a $2MM guarantee, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter links).  The guaranteed money breaks down as a $1.5MM salary in 2023, and then a $500K buyout of a $7MM club option the Rockies hold on Hand’s services for the 2024 season.  Another $1MM bonus is available for Hand if he is still in the organization by Opening Day, with Rosenthal noting that means either on the active roster or on the injured list.  Hand turns 33 later this month. He is represented by the Wasserman Agency.

Right-hander Tyler Kinley will be placed on the 60-day injured list to create roster space for Hand, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports (Twitter link).  Kinley is expected to be out of action until at least midseason after undergoing elbow surgery last June.

Once Hand appears in an official game in the purple pinstripes, it will mark 13 MLB seasons and eight different teams for the veteran southpaw.  Hand inked a one-year, $6MM with the Phillies last winter and contributed to the Phils’ push to the NL pennant, delivering a 2.80 ERA over 45 regular-season innings and then a 4.76 ERA in 5 2/3 postseason frames.  That small sample size of playoff work was perhaps more reflective of Hand’s overall quality in 2022, as he had a 4.51 SIERA and 4.90 xFIP, and his .297 wOBA was well under his .323 xwOBA.  Hand did a very good job of limiting hard contact last year, but with subpar strikeout and walk rates.

All things considered, Hand’s 2022 advanced metrics weren’t far removed — or in some cases were worse — than his 2021 metrics, though he had a lot more good fortune with that 2.80 ERA as opposed to his 3.90 mark with the Nationals, Mets, and Blue Jays in 2021.  (MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently took a deeper dive into Hand’s 2022 performance.) Hand was also a lot better at keeping the ball in the park with the Phillies — he allowed only two homers in his 45 frames last year, after giving up nine long balls over 64 2/3 innings in 2021.

The soft contact and ability to keep the ball in the park is naturally of interest for a team that plays in Coors Field, and the Rockies ended up acquiring Hand after a relatively quiet offseason in terms of publicly-known interest.  The Cubs and Twins were both linked to Hand over the last month, though in general, the market for left-handed relief pitching was mostly pretty slow after an initial flurry prior to Christmas.  Only in recent weeks has the ice started to thaw, as names like Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore, and (just earlier today) Will Smith have now come off the board.

Speaking of quiet offseasons, the Rockies haven’t done a whole lot of note this winter, much to the consternation of fans who saw the club lose 94 games in 2022.  Colorado has done a fair amount of work in the bullpen, at least, as Hand joins such names as Pierce Johnson, Nick Mears, and fellow left-handers Brent Suter and Ty Blach and Fernando Abad.  Since Blach and Abad were minor league signings, Hand’s deal might push one or both of those other lefties out of consideration for spot on the Opening Day roster.

The club option also gives Colorado some control over Hand’s future if he does fully regain his past form.  Hand was one of the better relievers in the sport when pitching with San Diego and Cleveland from 2016-20, and naturally the Rockies saw him often back in his Padres days.  Since Johnson, Suter, and Dinelson Lamet are all slated for free agency after the 2023 season, the Rockies could keep at least one pitcher in the fold by exercising Hand’s option, if he pitches well enough to make that $6.5MM decision a wise one for the Rox.

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Colorado Rockies Newsstand Transactions Brad Hand Tyler Kinley

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View Comments (70)
Post a Comment

70 Comments

  1. RunDMC

    2 years ago

    And you’re gonna need it.

    7
    Reply
    • miltpappas

      2 years ago

      Thank you, Noel.

      Reply
  2. In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani

    2 years ago

    It’s a good signing to give the bullpen a hand. Pretty cheap, too

    4
    Reply
    • phenomenalajs

      2 years ago

      Didn’t you mean to say: “give the bullpen a Hand?”

      1
      Reply
      • In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani

        2 years ago

        Either works, but Britton doesn’t, as he is still unemployed lol

        1
        Reply
        • Curly Was The Smart Stooge

          2 years ago

          Give the closing job to the Hand

          3
          Reply
        • MLB Top 100 Commenter

          2 years ago

          Curly

          Why Hand over Bard? Both are adequate but not great. I think Bard keeps the job and Hand is only closer is Bard gets injured.

          2
          Reply
        • Curly Was The Smart Stooge

          2 years ago

          Manny, we are bros, but you missed the money shot with the Hand

          Reply
        • MLB Top 100 Commenter

          2 years ago

          Sorry, I was taking it in the strictly baseball sense. Gotta Hand it to you . . .

          Reply
      • Thank_God_Im_Not_Tim_Dierkes

        2 years ago

        It’s important we give a Hand to the Rockies on Handily finding a left-Handed pitcher in Hand who can Handle whatever Handed batter is thrown at him while being especially Handy against left-Handed hitters!.

        3
        Reply
    • Franco27

      2 years ago

      Breaking ball pitchers ruin their careers in Colorado.

      1
      Reply
      • Windowpane

        2 years ago

        Hand has already had his career so he’s good in Denver.

        1
        Reply
      • AHH-Rox

        2 years ago

        Jorge de la Rosa and Adam Ottavino did just fine.

        3
        Reply
      • rockiesmagicnumber

        2 years ago

        Slider guys do pretty well. Generally low spin guys do better in Colorado because their stuff doesn’t need as much air to bite to get it to perform

        1
        Reply
      • Thank_God_Im_Not_Tim_Dierkes

        2 years ago

        You mean hitters ruin the careers of breaking ball throwing pitchers in Colorado.

        Reply
        • Thank_God_Im_Not_Tim_Dierkes

          2 years ago

          The best pitchers in Colorado throw circle changeups, sinkers, splitters, and high velocity fastballs. If the MLB was smart, they would force the Rockies to play in a temperature controlled environment (dome) like the one in Miami, so they could align the field conditions with ballparks at lower altitudes.

          Reply
  3. DarkSide830

    2 years ago

    RIP career

    1
    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      2 years ago

      Also crazy Hand is only 32. He’s been around FOREVER.

      8
      Reply
      • Jesse Chavez enthusiast

        2 years ago

        I vaguely remember him being a starter for the FLORIDA Marlins. That’s how long he’s been around

        3
        Reply
      • Thank_God_Im_Not_Tim_Dierkes

        2 years ago

        What can you say? There aren’t a lot of Hand-y southpaw relievers over the last decade!

        1
        Reply
    • thickiedon

      2 years ago

      Everyone else passed him though so what else was he supposed to do?

      1
      Reply
  4. benhen77

    2 years ago

    RIP

    1
    Reply
  5. In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani

    2 years ago

    And this guy still remains unsigned for 9 million (some sources say it was the annual average): mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/angels-interested-in-za…

    Reply
  6. CKinSTL

    2 years ago

    Good sign by the Rockies. Nice, low-risk move.

    7
    Reply
    • AHH-Rox

      2 years ago

      If he pitches well, they can get something for him at the trade deadline. Some contenders will be looking for a lefty.

      3
      Reply
      • DarkSide830

        2 years ago

        Perhaps he could be dealt back to Philly for the Reverse Neshek!

        4
        Reply
  7. hiflew

    2 years ago

    Well Gilbreath got replaced. Hopefully the in-house Rodgers replacement can work. Although I would prefer bringing in a vet like Villar or trading Montero for a second baseman and leaving McMahon at third where he belongs.

    1
    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      2 years ago

      You’re out on Montero already?

      2
      Reply
      • pohle

        2 years ago

        corner infielder with decent bat to ball skills, bigger power and questionable defense, hes 24 and deserves a shot as much as anyone else, but these kinds of guys grow on trees and hes out of options. dealing him would probably be best for the roster

        Reply
        • hiflew

          2 years ago

          I agree he deserves a shot, but not at the expense of a better player in Ryan McMahon. The Rockies do not need a corner infielder right now. Since Montero is ready, he should be traded for a position that is needed, either 2B or CF.

          Trading a guy is not giving up on him. It is using the surplus resources you have to get the resources you need.

          Reply
      • hiflew

        2 years ago

        Not really out on him. I just think he is not needed on this team. Trade him while he has value for a position that is needed.

        Reply
    • seamaholic 2

      2 years ago

      Much rather trade McMahon.

      1
      Reply
      • hiflew

        2 years ago

        Why? Montero will probably get more back in a trade than McMahon. The Rox extended McMahon. Ideally he should be the 3B for the next few years at least.

        Reply
        • Jesse Chavez enthusiast

          2 years ago

          I disagree, the extension is what will bring back a bigger package for Colorado, he’s a fantastic defensive third baseman so someone might want him for that. Like the guy above me Montero is out of options which gives him less value. The Rockies aren’t going to be good any time soon, might as well get what you can get for McMahon and speed up the rebuild.

          1
          Reply
  8. Dorkus Malorkus (3768902)

    2 years ago

    Brad Hand’s home splits @ mile high will be better than the wrath of Emilio Pagan’s season totals.

    1
    Reply
    • seamaholic 2

      2 years ago

      No he won’t have especially bad home/road splits. Coors Field is easy to hit at mostly for lefties. For righties it’s not extreme at all. And Hand pitches very well vs lefties. He’s a good fit.

      Reply
  9. Get Off My Mound

    2 years ago

    Man, what a waste of a good reliever.

    1
    Reply
  10. Kershaw's Lesser Known Right Arm

    2 years ago

    Well at least they didn’t give him $17 million

    3
    Reply
  11. Rsox

    2 years ago

    This could either turn out really good or be a spectacular disaster

    1
    Reply
  12. Unclemike1525

    2 years ago

    So after looking around for months the best place he could find to go was………Coors? Wow And for 2 million bucks. I’d have asked for double just for ruining my ERA.

    2
    Reply
    • seamaholic 2

      2 years ago

      You realize people have better (and more park specific) ways to measure pitchers than ERA, right?

      3
      Reply
      • Unclemike1525

        2 years ago

        You mean like Wins and Saves? Yeah, I doubt he’s going to get many of those either. And if you say WAR I’m gonna hurl.

        1
        Reply
        • pohle

          2 years ago

          just tell us you dont know anything about pitching metrics already, its okay we wont judge you. hand got a nice deal here where he will see the mound a lot, and if it works out he gets to keep playing. hard to blame him for giving himself more theoretical opportunities in that light bullpen

          1
          Reply
        • highheat

          2 years ago

          @Unclemike

          To be fair, fWAR for pitchers is based on FIP (and bWAR is based on ERA).

          There are numerous other ways to evaluate pitchers that don’t boil down to ERA, though.

          -FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching)
          -xERA (Expected ERA)
          -xFIP (FIP, but scaled to MLB av HR/FB)
          -SIERA (Skill Interactive ERA)

          Those are the most prominent aside from ERA and there are even +/- variations of the majority of those stats (where each integer exceeding 100 in + variations is 1% above average, and where each integer beneath 100 in – variations is 1% above average)

          Many teams nowadays are inclined to pursue peripheral strengths (like SwStr% on specific pitches or a pitch mix that “tunnels” well) that indicate some degree of projection as well.

          ERA is frequently one of the later things looked at in the modern game (although, it still pays well in Arb; which Hand isn’t going through).

          6
          Reply
        • Hammerin' Hank

          2 years ago

          Now there’s a stat that the sharpest minds in the game use. Relief Pitcher wins lol!!!

          1
          Reply
        • Unclemike1525

          2 years ago

          OK. Compiling a list of things you can’t say to fans of bad teams. A’s, Pirates, Reds- Cheap owners-Check. Rockies- Can’t talk about their teams lousy ERA- Check. Rockies No wins-Check. Guess it was a good thing I didn’t mention their stupid owner who wouldn’t pay Arenado, But tossed a bunch of money at Bryant. We might have had a donnybrook on our hands. My apologies. I mean he even said they’d win 81 games. I don’t which fantasy world that is but hey good luck.

          1
          Reply
        • tstats

          2 years ago

          bWAR is actually RA9 based. Slight nitpick but it increases your point

          1
          Reply
        • highheat

          2 years ago

          Appreciate the civil correction @tstats

          I’m frequently wrong and like being told so lol

          Reply
      • stymeedone

        2 years ago

        They’re different, but as ERA gives the actual result, they are not better. This article trying to state 5 playoff innings is more representative than 45 regular season innings is just pretty lame. Those advanced metrics just don’t show what he actually did. Maybe they show more that he didn’t do it in the manner the advanced metrics try to tell us it should be done. He was effective. That’s what matters at the end of the day.

        Reply
  13. User 899214610

    2 years ago

    I’m just filling in, “Wooooww!!!!”

    Reply
  14. Dr. Blockhead

    2 years ago

    Rox/Hand

    1
    Reply
    • AHH-Rox

      2 years ago

      That’s quite the stinging comment.

      Reply
      • Bart Harley Jarvis

        2 years ago

        In this case, you do have to turn on the red light.

        Reply
  15. Old York

    2 years ago

    Guy’s gonna rake in Denver!

    3
    Reply
  16. Buzz Killington

    2 years ago

    From a solid career to a Rockie career. Hand dealt himself a Rockie hand choosing the Rockies.

    2
    Reply
  17. Dr. Blockhead

    2 years ago

    A guy with concerning underlying numbers and who’s stuff has gotten lighter in the last year or 2 is heading to Colorado, huh? I see this going very well for all parties.

    1
    Reply
  18. Herc33

    2 years ago

    The $1M bonus if he’s still in the org by opening day is a funny term. I guess it gives COL the opportunity to save $1M if he’s awful in Spring, but like realistically they’re not going to DFA him over the next 3 weeks so that’s basically just 1 year deal for $3M.

    Reply
  19. DynamiteAdams

    2 years ago

    I have a feeling this where he gets lit up. Any contact, soft or otherwise at coors is a dangerous game. He had to have no other options to take 2 million at this venue.

    1
    Reply
    • Windowpane

      2 years ago

      What I was thinkin’, too.

      Reply
  20. toptimrubies

    2 years ago

    2023 trade deadline: Rockies Extend Brad Hand Through 2025.

    2
    Reply
    • Saskatchewan Jaysfan

      2 years ago

      Lol. Yep that wouldn’t surprise me much with the brain trust in that F.O.

      Reply
  21. fletch

    2 years ago

    Twins should have signed MN native to give them a strong arm.

    1
    Reply
  22. acoss13

    2 years ago

    I have to Hand it to Colorado, if he works himself to respectable numbers by the trade deadline, he’s a good Hand to have at the trade deadline and get some prospects.

    Doubtful, Colorado has failed to capitalize on players that were clearly on their way out, Story and Gray, so they won’t with Hand.

    1
    Reply
    • Saskatchewan Jaysfan

      2 years ago

      Is there another team in MLB who is as mismanaged as the Rockies? They practically gave away Arenado, then they sign Bryant to that ridiculous contract( why on earth would a last place team with zero chance of making the playoffs even do something like that?). Even the Reds and Pirates r trying to do a proper rebuild with young in-house talent. Now they’re paying a pitcher who was extremely lucky last year with Philly. The Dodgers and Padres r gonna tee off on him big time!

      1
      Reply
      • acoss13

        2 years ago

        Reds and Pirates fans usually sound off on a regular basis how much they hate their respective owners, but Colorado certainly has an atrocious slimey businessman so yeah, it sucks for Rockies fans right now.

        Reply
  23. Jacksson13

    2 years ago

    About time the Rockies got a HAND !!

    Reply
  24. Saskatchewan Jaysfan

    2 years ago

    Good thing that there is a National League, because if this guy ever went back to the A.L.(especially the east), he would get lit up bad!

    Reply
  25. JackStrawb

    2 years ago

    145 ERA+ since 2016, which he even beat last year? For 2m guaranteed??

    My Mets needed at least one more bullpen guy (and probably three like Hand, really) so they don’t end up giving 200 innings to the Nogoseks of the world, guys who kill you with ERAs in the 6’s and 7’s. What are they thinking—-anything?

    Reply
  26. Comet

    2 years ago

    Phillies lost a Hand but may have a new Head.

    Reply
  27. Cohn Joppolella

    2 years ago

    More jokes about his name please!

    Reply

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