Rumor: Twins interested in Brad Hand?

[Squirrel]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/twins-interested-in-brad-hand.html

Should they ... will they?

View full rumor

[Puckett34]

A decent 7th/8th inning option that knocks Pagan down a notch is good in my book

[Dman]

I think an extra lefty wouldn't be a bad idea. I am not sure Hand would have been my ideal candidate but one more lefty reliever seems like a good idea for a club that wanted to add depth to all positions.  I don't love Hand's peripherals but the sub 3 ERA outcome I could certainly live with.  If the price is right and it is Hand or no one else then I would grab him.  Vets can be valuable and having another lefty in case of injury makes a good deal of sense IMO.  Hopefully the Twins help him find something extra and he rebounds finding more bat missing K's

[nicksaviking]

No interest, his strikeout and walk rates seem to indicate he's washed up. I don't want to sign someone just to sign someone. I'd much rather see the young internal options in the pen, whether it be someone who's currently a reliever or one of the starters. 

[sun]

If he can be as effective as he was last year then it would be a good signing.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/handbr01.shtml

[IndianaTwin]

We've reached the point of the year where a lot of deals are minor league contracts with an opt-out for the player if they are not added to the roster by a certain date. If that's what we're talking about, I'm all for it. 

Or shucks -- sign him to a major league deal, put Canterino on the 60-day IL and then trade Hand for a lottery ticket when some other team has spring training injuries and is desperate for a lefty. 

[Mike Sixel]

53 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

No interest, his strikeout and walk rates seem to indicate he's washed up. I don't want to sign someone just to sign someone. I'd much rather see the young internal options in the pen, whether it be someone who's currently a reliever or one of the starters. 

This.

[DJL44]

I would rather see Brad Hand in April than see Headrick make his debut in the bullpen. He won't cost much. If he's bad or a rookie looks really good in AAA they can cut him. No team ever has enough pitching.

[old nurse]

Minor league deal, fine. 

[JD-TWINS]

He made $6 million last year and had a 2.80 ERA……pretty sure that’s what his agent is telling our FO!

He’s gotta be at $4.5 - $5.0 million minimum.

Like his experience!!!! Not his first rodeo.

We have 3 outs to get in the 8th with 2 of 3 guys being LH hitters OR even 1 of the 3 guys being a LH hitter. Pick one:

Pagan - Hand - López??

Come on - sign him!

[Cris E]

His numbers indicate he'll be what Pagan was last April: a gaudy ERA with terrible supporting numbers hidden behind it. At some point the runs will start coming and people will start complaining about him like they do about Pagan. Does no one remember Joe Smith? 0.00 April ERA, 3.24 in May, 5 GDP induced in only 16 innings. Fun! And then he was bad and then he was gone. You're staking a lot on Falvine signing a guy who gets results without supporting skills and then cutting bait when it fails. I don't see them signing him to a major league deal. Maybe a two-way if he makes the club in April, but they aren't cutting anyone they care about to make room for him.  They've done it and it doesn't really work.

[MMMordabito]

I'll be a homer and say sign the Chaska High School alum.

I'd rather see Megill get optioned than Moran though.  I'm high on Moran for '23.

Don't let it turn into a Matt Belisle situation though.

Can you imagine if the Twins won the World Series with Thielbar, Varland, Wallner and Hand all on the roster?

[TwinsDr2021]

40 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

He made $6 million last year and had a 2.80 ERA……pretty sure that’s what his agent is telling our FO!

He’s gotta be at $4.5 - $5.0 million minimum.

Like his experience!!!! Not his first rodeo.

We have 3 outs to get in the 8th with 2 of 3 guys being LH hitters OR even 1 of the 3 guys being a LH hitter. Pick one:

Pagan - Hand - López??

Come on - sign him!

Why not the cheaper option Moran (He will 26 in two months, if he isn't good enough he is just taking up a spot on the 40)? or Duran or Theilbar?

To me Hand is the type of relief pitcher you go get at the deadline (or before) if you need bullpen help and he has proven he is still good to decent on a bad team.

[Brady]

Only interested because he represents another LHP option out of the pen. I think Moran will be fine, he just needs a little more experience at the Major League level to really solidify himself. Thielbar is also solid, but at some point I'd start to be wary of regression given variance that is standard with relievers as well as age. But, Hand isn't immune to those same concerns.

All in all, I don't see the point of overpaying for an arm that is, at best, marginally better than what we have in place already.

[DJL44]

8 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

To me Hand is the type of relief pitcher you go get at the deadline (or before) if you need bullpen help and he has proven he is still good to decent on a bad team.

He only costs money at the moment. Odds that all 13 of their best pitchers are healthy to start the season are low. Even if you say each pitcher has an 80% chance to be healthy if you multiply that out it's a 5% chance every pitcher is healthy. Start at a 90% chance of health and it's a 25% chance their best 13 pitchers are on the Opening Day roster. They used 36 different pitchers last year.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Forget everything else.  If the Twins feel that he is an improvement over someone they are willing to move (down or out), and the cost is reasonable, you sign him.

[Nine of twelve]

The one thing I can say in Hand's favor is that he's still only 32 -- 3 years younger than Caleb Thielbar. Don't know enough about his health history to comment whether his arm has enough left in it for him to become an effective major league pitcher. Maybe a minor league contract and let him prove himself in AAA. I wouldn't give him a roster spot unless a move to the majors is indicated.

[Cris E]

Until they are free to put guys on the 60 Day, adding a new face will cost passing someone they have now through waivers. That's unlikely to work, so Hand or Moore or my glorious comeback can wait until rosters are mobile again.

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, Cris E said:

Until they are free to put guys on the 60 Day, adding a new face will cost passing someone they have now through waivers. That's unlikely to work, so Hand or Moore or my glorious comeback can wait until rosters are mobile again.

That's a week away

[Parfigliano]

25 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

That's a week away

So wait.

[nicksaviking]

These are deal breakers for me. These numbers don't tend to improve with age. Go with the young guys that have some upside instead of the broken vets who have much less chance of turning things around. Besides, you know how much harder it is to dump the guy from Chaska after two months than it is to dump a guy from Greenville SC, Lubbock TX or LA? 

[LA VIkes Fan]

Nothing's going to happen with a guy like Hand until they can move Lewis and Paddack to the 60 man IL. There's no reason to lose a guy now on the 40 man roster when you can wait. I think that's true for most teams now that Chafin and Fulmer are gone. There isn't a great groundswell for Hand's services, so I don't think the risk of waiting is too high although not non-existent. He's not coming on a Minor league deal, it will take an MLB contract at the $3-5m level to bring him in at least, and it may take more. I'd be ok with paying him in that range and using him to fill out the bullpen. The young guys can start at AAA, except for Moran. He should break camp with the MLB club. There will be plenty of opportunities with the Twins as the season progresses due to injury or ineffectiveness. Megill, Henriquez, Sands, etc. will get their chances.   

[DocBauer]

Hand has never been my 1st choice, but I've liked him as a relatively inexpensive option to add. The more I've looked at his final 2022 numbers, the more I liked Chafin or Moore as alternatives. Hand might have been performing magic tricks based on experience in 2022, but he sure didn't stink. He was still solid in his spits and kept hard contact down and kept the ball in the yard. 

We are at the point in the offseason now where 40 man rosters are full, and very few players or pitchers are going to get anything more than a milb deal and an invite with potential $. I'd rather call up Moore, offer him decent $ on a 1yr, and add him in a week when the 40 man can be adjusted to fit him in. I'd rather give him a shot to augment the pen instead of Hand based on better STUFF and the hope he can continue what he did in 2022. 

But I won't be upset at adding Hand on a deal that is either milb in nature, or isn't put in to place until ST begins. I mean, you only have a week to have a physical and sign a deal and move someone to the 60 day. Maybe he has one more good, solid, veteran season in that arm to help out Thielbar and the young Moran. Nothing wrong with taking a flier on him under those circumstances. 

Still, I think I'd rather spend a little more $ on Moore, no pun intended, on the same kind of deal with a potentially higher upside. 

[Squirrel]

6 hours ago, DJL44 said:

That's a week away

No, it’s tomorrow. Players can be put on the 60-day when pitchers and catchers report as that’s the first official day of ST

[Nine of twelve]

12 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

He's not coming on a Minor league deal, it will take an MLB contract at the $3-5m level to bring him in at least, and it may take more.

If that's the case I'm fine with letting another team take that risk.

[DJL44]

13 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Go with the young guys that have some upside instead of the broken vets who have much less chance of turning things around.

Young guys like 33 year old Danny Coulombe? It's has-been versus never-was for most of these decisions.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

10 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Young guys like 33 year old Danny Coulombe? It's has-been versus never-was for most of these decisions.

There is a third leg of the stool, convert minor league quad A starters to relievers.

[nicksaviking]

11 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Young guys like 33 year old Danny Coulombe? It's has-been versus never-was for most of these decisions.

The Twins have more options than that. If they're specially looking for a lefty, which I'm not, Moran as the second option looks better than those two. The third lefty should be someone they can park in St. Paul. So if they don't want it to be Headrick, Funderburk or Sammons (all of which I'd like to see), then they should sign someone who'd take a MiLB deal. Which is probably what Brad Hand should be accepting, but since he's still a relatively big name, he likely won't have to.

[Bigfork Twins Guy]

I advocated for picking up Hand in another thread, but after revisiting his numbers and estimates of what amount of $ he would want on a MLB contract, I'd have to say no to this.  If he accepts a 1-year minor league deal for 2mm or so, it may be worth the risk.

[Ricky Vaughn]

If he would take $1m with some incentives thrown in, it would be worth the risk. That way if he doesn't work out the urge to hang onto him and fix him isn't great. I say do it.