Brad Hand

Quick Hits: Blue Jays, Brantley, Cardinals, Hicks, Astros

By Anthony Franco | January 17, 2021 at 2:18pm CDT

The Blue Jays continue to have interest in Michael Brantley, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Toronto’s top free agent outfield target remains George Springer, and Rosenthal floats the possibility of the Jays signing both players. Springer and Brantley have spent the past two seasons as teammates with the Astros, and Brantley is plenty familiar with Jays’ president/CEO Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins from their time in Cleveland. Signing both Springer and Brantley would make for a bit of an awkward fit on-paper, since Toronto already has a glut of corner outfield/designated hitter options. Nevertheless, doing so could free the Jays up to trade one of their young, in-house outfielders for rotation help, Rosenthal feels.

Some more from around the sport:

Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks is “ready to go” for next season, bullpen coach Bryan Eversgerd tells reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com). That’s welcome news after a setback in Hicks’ recovery from Tommy John surgery contributed to his choice to opt out of the 2020 season. The 24-year-old suffers from Type 1 diabetes, which no doubt also played a role in that decision. In 106.2 career innings between 2018-19, the fireballer has pitched to a 3.47 ERA behind an elite 62.3% groundball rate.
The Astros have signed Ryne Stanek and Pedro Báez this winter. Even still, they’d like to continue to add to their bullpen, ideally by acquiring a traditional closer, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “It’s something that I think all of us would like to have, and it can certainly make you feel better about your bullpen than if you don’t have someone who maybe has done it in the past,” general manager James Click said of a set ninth inning option. “However, there are always guys who step up into that role every year. There are new closers every year, and our young talent on this roster did an impressive job last season in stepping up in some roles that, if we’re being honest, I don’t think that we thought that they might have been ready for, and our hand was forced because of a lot of different reasons.” As Click alluded to, Houston’s bullpen was decimated by injuries in 2020 and ranked just 24th league-wide with a 4.55 SIERA. One potential option is Brad Hand, with whom the club remains in contact, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com.

Free Agent Notes: Soria, Hand, Odorizzi, Rosenthal

By Mark Polishuk | January 16, 2021 at 2:57pm CDT

Some buzz from the free agent market…

The Blue Jays continue to be interested in Brad Hand and Jake Odorizzi, according to Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith in an update on Toronto’s offseason endeavors. In the latest name to appear on the Jays’ wide-ranging radar, Joakim Soria has also drawn attention, though “talks haven’t been serious on that front.”
Speaking of Odorizzi, he is still among the “many” pitchers the Twins are still considering, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter links). Back in December, Wolfson reported that other teams were more fervently pursuing Odorizzi than Minnesota, though with Odorizzi still unsigned, it seems like the Twins still have some kind of a shot at a reunion. Beyond the Twins and Blue Jays, the Red Sox and Giants have also been linked to Odorizzi’s market, though the free agent righty lost a notable suitor in the Mets after New York instead opted to acquire Carlos Carrasco. Minnesota was also known to be interested in Corey Kluber, and Wolfson reports that the Twins indeed made Kluber an offer before he ended up signing with the Yankees.
The Padres are still talking with Trevor Rosenthal’s camp, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitter link), but the team might stand pat with its current relief corps. Since the Padres’ bid for Kirby Yates appears to have fallen short, Acee doesn’t think the Friars will meet Rosenthal’s price. Rosenthal enjoyed a nice bounce-back season in 2020, posting a 1.90 ERA and 41.8 K% over 23 2/3 innings with the Royals and Padres. After being acquired by San Diego at the deadline, Rosenthal didn’t allow a single unearned run over 10 regular-season innings for the Padres, though he struggled considerably in the playoffs.

Mets, Brad Hand Discussing Deal

By TC Zencka | January 15, 2021 at 7:48am CDT

The Mets are working to sign free agent reliever Brad Hand to a two-year contract, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). A contract is not yet signed, however, and the two sides may not be particularly close to resolution, writes MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Rosenthal adds two other sources in concert with Feinsand’s assessment that the two sides are not as close to a deal as it was first reported.

Hand unwittingly became an emblematic figure for this winter’s free agency when the Indians surprisingly chose to waive him rather than bring him back on a one-year, $10MM deal. When none of the other 29 teams claimed Hand, despite the seemingly favorable terms of his one-year pact, the tenor for the winter was set. Interest has picked up in recent weeks for Hand, however, as the Astros, Blue Jays, and Dodgers all expressed at least some degree of interest along with the Mets, obviously, and the Red Sox, we learned today from Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter).

The White Sox have expressed interest in the past, though they would seem to be less likely to win the bidding for Hand after their pricey accord with Liam Hendriks. Hand would be an equally impactful signing for the Mets, should they ultimately get him. The Mets bullpen ranked 21st in the Majors last season with a 5.01 ERA, 16th by fielding independent pitching with a 4.46 FIP. That said, Hand would buoy any bullpen after a 2020 season with a 2.05 ERA/1.37 FIP over 22 innings with a 33.7 percent strikeout rate, 4.7 percent walk rate, and 26.5 percent groundball rate.

Pitching Notes: Kluber, Teheran, Ramos, Mets, Hand

By Connor Byrne | January 14, 2021 at 6:38pm CDT

The Royals and Giants were among the previously unreported teams that were on hand for free-agent right-hander Corey Kluber’s well-attended showcase on Wednesday, per reports from Alec Lewis of The Athletic and Mark W. Sanchez of KNBR. Most of the league’s clubs showed up to watch Kluber, a two-time AL Cy Young winner who’s coming off a pair of rough years because of multiple injuries. Kluber reportedly looked healthy during his throwing session, though, and could sign with someone in the near future.

Righty Julio Teheran will hold his own showcase for teams Tuesday in Miami, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The former Braves innings eater typically did a nice job keeping runs off the board in their uniform from 2011-19, which led the Angels to sign him to a one-year, $9MM guarantee last offseason. The move didn’t go well at all for the Angels, however. The 29-year-old Teheran threw 31 1/3 innings with the team and finished last among all pitchers with 30-plus frames in ERA (10.05) and second from the bottom in K-BB percentage (2.7).
Kluber’s event also included Anthony Swarzak, Steve Cishek and, as Cishek revealed on MLB Network Radio on Thursday, AJ Ramos. The right-handed Ramos was an excellent reliever with the Marlins earlier in his career, especially from 2012-16, but has struggled in the bigs with a couple of other teams since then. After missing a large portion of 2018 and all of 2019 with shoulder problems, Ramos returned last season to spend time with three different organizations in the Dodgers, Cubs and Rockies. The 34-year-old returned to the majors as a Rockie in late September and threw 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball and a strikeout, though he allowed four hits and three walks in that short span.
The Mets have not bowed out of the race for free-agent reliever Brad Hand, Andy Martino of SNY tweets. As of earlier this week, Hand was discussing multi-year deals with teams, but the Mets were hoping to reel in the lefty on a one-year contract worth less than $10MM. With Hand as one of the standout relievers on the open market, the Mets may have to up their offer if they’re going to land the three-time All-Star.

Latest On Brad Hand

By Steve Adams | January 12, 2021 at 3:30pm CDT

3:30pm: Hand is indeed discussing multi-year deals with teams, Jesse Rogers of ESPN tweets.

11:53am: The Mets’ interest in lefty Brad Hand was already known, but SNY’s Andy Martino provides some additional context on the club’s pursuit, reporting that New York has been seeking a one-year pact that would pay Hand a bit less than the $10MM price point at which all 30 clubs passed on claiming him earlier this offseason. Hand, however, is seeking at least a two-year arrangement.

Two years for Hand has seemed plausible throughout the winter, and recent multi-year pacts for Blake Treinen ($17.5MM total) and Liam Hendriks ($54MM total) only further lend credence to the idea that he’d be justified seeking two or more years despite going unclaimed at season’s end. Notably, Martino suggests in a follow-up tweet that had the Mets’ sale to Steve Cohen gone through just days earlier, the team almost certainly would’ve claimed Hand. The Mets’ sale was finalized on Nov. 6; Hand cleared waivers on Oct. 30.

At the time Hand cleared waivers, there was surely some hesitancy from owners to commit to any notable salary additions given the uncertainty of what the upcoming 2021 season would look like. There’s still no way of definitively knowing, of course, but commissioner Rob Manfred recently instructed clubs to prepare for a full 162-game slate and for Spring Training to start on time. We don’t yet know what fan attendance will look like, however, which has hampered spending and slowed the free-agent market.

That said, there’s been plenty of interest in Hand — clearly just not at the multi-year level he prefers. In addition to the Mets, he’s been linked to the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Astros and White Sox. Reports tying Hand to L.A. and Chicago predated that pair’s respective signings of Treinen and Hendriks, so it’s possible that the extent of their interest has changed.

Based on track record, Hand stands out as the clear top lefty reliever on the market. He’s pitched to a combined 2.70 ERA and 2.79 SIERA over the past five seasons while striking out exactly one-third of the hitters he’s faced against just an 8.1 percent walk rate.

However, Hand did show some red flags in 2020, as his once 94.1 mph average fastball velocity dipped to 91.8 mph — his second straight year of a notable decline. He also benefited from a career-low .255 average on balls in play, and Hand certainly can’t be expected to go an entire season — or even 22 straight innings — without allowing a single home run again as he did in 2020. Today’s teams are far more concerned with what they project a player will do over the life of his contract than what the player has done leading up to said contract, which may help explain the disconnect between Hand’s track record his market to this point.

Astros To Sign Ryne Stanek

By Connor Byrne | January 7, 2021 at 4:48pm CDT

The Astros are signing free-agent reliever Ryne Stanek, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. It’s a one-year deal, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Stanek will earn $1.1MM, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The right-hander is a client of MVP Sports Group.

The 29th overall pick of the Rays in 2013, Stanek made his major league debut four years later and gave the club especially good production from 2018-19. He was one of the Rays’ go-to opener options then, starting 56 games in 100 appearances, and managed a 3.17 ERA with a 28.9 percent strikeout rate and a 9.6 percent walk rate in 122 innings. However, the Rays moved on from Stanek when they sent him to the Marlins in a 2019 trade deadline deal that delivered stud reliever Nick Anderson to Tampa Bay.

Unfortunately for Miami, Stanek wasn’t able to maintain his effectiveness in its uniform. The 29-year-old had a rough season in 2020, when he threw 10 innings of 7.20 ERA ball with almost as many unintentional walks (eight) as strikeouts (11) and saw his average fastball dip from the 98 mph range to 96. The Marlins then non-tendered Stanek in lieu of paying him a projected $800K in arbitration.

The Astros could control Stanek through 2023 via arbitration, so this might be more than a one-year union between the two. And Astros general manager James Click, who was part of the Rays’ front office when they drafted Stanek and saw him flourish a few years later, is quite familiar with the hurler.

Stanek will now join a Houston bullpen that ranked a middle-of-the-pack 15th in ERA a season ago. The Astros have since lost relievers Roberto Osuna, Brad Peacock and Chris Devenski to free agency, and while none played big roles in 2020, the team has been looking to address its relief corps to a notable degree this winter. In fact, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweeted Thursday that the Astros want more than one reliever and have interest in free agents Brad Hand and Trevor Rosenthal (along with the previously reported Liam Hendriks and Alex Colome). With that in mind, they probably aren’t done after the Stanek acquisition.

White Sox, Dodgers Among Potential Brad Hand Suitors

By TC Zencka | January 6, 2021 at 11:13am CDT

Count the White Sox and Dodgers among the suitors for closer Brad Hand, per MLB Insider Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Along with the Blue Jays and Mets, Hand now has a decent cadre of clubs interested in his services.

The price point for Hand’s eventual contract figures to be of unique interest after all 30 clubs surprisingly passed on claiming his one-year, $10MM option. As MLBTR’s Connor Byrne wrote just yesterday, “…the 30-year-old is a three-time All-Star who remained one of baseball’s most effective relievers a season ago. While Hand’s average fastball did drop from 92.7 mph to 91.4, he still recorded a 2.05 ERA with a 33.7 percent strikeout rate and a 4.7 percent walk rate over 22 innings. Hand also converted all 16 of his save opportunities.”

The White Sox make for a natural suitor as they continue to wrench open their window of contention. They know Hand well from his time in their division, and incumbent closer Alex Colomé is also a free agent. Tony La Russa’s club is well-stocked in southpaws with fast-rising rookie Garrett Crochet coming off a very impressive initial Major League showing, as well as Aaron Bummer, who might be the premier wormkiller in the game. Jace Fry has also been a productive southpaw for the ChiSox with a 4.07 FIP, 29.6 percent strikeout rate, 13.7 percent walk rate, and 51.2 percent groundball rate over the past three seasons. To add Hand to that group may seem gluttonous, but slotting him in as the closer would allow Chicago to continue to use Fry and Bummer situationally while protecting Crochet’s usage.

The Dodgers have secured quite a bit of help in their bullpen recently with the signing of Tommy Kahnle and the re-signing of Blake Treinen. Of course, Kahnle is unlikely to pitch much – if at all – in 2021, and Treinen was part of the group last year. Besides, if there’s a question mark for the champs heading into the 2021 season, it centers on the longevity of incumbent closer Kenley Jansen. Hand would give the Dodgers a plethora of options in yet another facet of the ballgame.

Mets Interested In Brad Hand

By Connor Byrne | January 4, 2021 at 3:30pm CDT

The Mets have interest in free-agent left-hander Brad Hand, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. As Heyman notes, Mets team president Sandy Alderson said back in November the club may have been interested in claiming Hand off waivers had Cleveland parted with the reliever at a different time.

Not only did it come as a surprise that Cleveland let go of Hand, who was due a $10MM team option for 2021, but it was an eye-opener that nobody placed a claim on him. After all, the 30-year-old is a three-time All-Star who remained one of baseball’s most effective relievers a season ago. While Hand’s average fastball did drop from 92.7 mph to 91.4, he still recorded a 2.05 ERA with a 33.7 percent strikeout rate and a 4.7 percent walk rate over 22 innings. Hand also converted all 16 of his save opportunities.

Because nobody claimed him, Hand has been sitting on the open market for roughly two full months. He’s one of the premier relievers available, though, and the fit in New York is obvious. The Mets already spent a good amount of money on their bullpen earlier this offseason when they signed Trevor May to a two-year, $15.5MM contract, but doing so added another right-hander to a righty-heavy group. The Mets don’t have an established southpaw in their relief corps, so picking up Hand would give the team’s bullpen some balance.

Free Agent Notes: LeMahieu, Realmuto, Arihara, Hand

By Connor Byrne | December 22, 2020 at 7:16pm CDT

The Mets “recently contacted” infielder DJ LeMahieu, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The fight for LeMahieu appeared to be between his previous team, the Yankees, as well as the Blue Jays, but it would be difficult to count the deep-pocketed Mets out of the mix. Signing LeMahieu would enable the Mets to send Jeff McNeil from second to third base, though it’s unclear what that would mean for J.D. Davis, who started the majority of Mets games at the hot corner in 2020.

New Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and Jeff Berry, the agent for free-agent catcher J.T. Realmuto, had a discussion Monday, Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic relays. Negotiations did not occur during that talk, but Dombrowski made sure to mention that the Phillies want Realmuto back, per Montemurro. They have made Realmuto an offer, Heyman relays.
The Rangers are among the teams “believed” to have interest in right-hander Kohei Arihara, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. The 28-year-old Arihara, whom the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball posted earlier this offseason, logged a 3.74 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 over 836 innings. MLB teams have until Dec. 26 to sign Arihara.
Minnesota native Brad Hand, one of the top relievers on the open market, told Darren Wolfson of SKOR North that he’d “love to play” for the Twins in 2021. However, the southpaw isn’t sure if the Twins are interested in signing him. Hand reached free agency when the division-rival Indians declined his $10MM club option after last season, which came as a surprise considering the 30-year-old was one of baseball’s top relievers in 2020.

East Notes: Mets, Jays, O’s, Nats

By Jeff Todd,Steve Adams and Connor Byrne | December 9, 2020 at 11:30pm CDT

The Mets are interested in righty reliever Liam Hendriks, arguably the No. 1 bullpen arm available on the open market, per Andy Martino of SNY. He’d be the second major relief addition this offseason for the Mets, who signed Trevor May to a two-year, $15.5MM guarantee last week. Hendriks, previously with the Athletics, was perhaps the most dominant reliever in baseball during the previous two seasons. In that 108 1/3-inning stretch, the 31-year-old logged a matching 1.66 ERA/FIP, notched 13.21 K/9 against 1.83 BB/9, and recorded 39 saves in 47 opportunities. While the New York club has some level of interest in cross-town star D.J. LeMahieu, David Lennon of Newsday writes, it’s more on the “periphery” in that pursuit at the moment.

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