Free Agent Faceoff: Brad Hand vs. Trevor Rosenthal

Before reading the final entry of the “Free Agent Faceoff” series be sure to check out the previous three installments:

Designated Hitter: Marcell Ozuna vs. Nelson Cruz

Utilityman: Kiké Hernández vs. Tommy La Stella

Starting Pitching: Jake Odorizzi vs. James Paxton

Brad Hand

Contract Estimate: 2 years, $14M

The Case For:

Brad Hand has been one of the best relievers in baseball over the past half decade. Since the start of the 2017 season, Hand ranks 5th among all relievers in ERA (2.61), 8th in K/9 (12.60) and 7th in fWAR (5.5). Hand is coming off of the best season of his career, posting an ERA of 2.05 and leading the American League with 16 saves in the abbreviated 2020 season.

Hand is still just 30 years old and has been tremendously durable over the course of his career, throwing at least 50 innings in every season since becoming a full time reliever, and throwing at least 70 innings in all but one.

As has been well documented within Twins fan circles, Brad Hand is a Minnesota native, playing his high school ball for Chaska High School. Bringing Hand home to play for his hometown ball club in front of friends and family would be a poetic next step in the all-star closer’s career.

The Case Against:

After deciding to bring back Taylor Rogers and Caleb Thielbar via arbitration earlier this offseason, the Minnesota Twins set themselves up well with left handed arms in their bullpen. Adding in another high-leverage left handed arm might be a bit of overkill, as their biggest need is to replace the right handed bullpen arms that they lost in Trevor May, Matt Wisler, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard.

The other reason against bringing back Brad Hand is the philosophical approach the Minnesota Twins have against spending money on relievers. The reliever position has been proven to be extremely volatile over the years, and the Twins have shown repeatedly that they would prefer to get the most out of waiver claims and sign veteran relievers than to sign the top tier arms on the free agent market. Signing Hand would likely require a sizable monetary investment, and the Twins have shown time and time again they are unwilling to do so, especially as a third left hander in a bullpen that’s starving for righties.

Trevor Rosenthal

Contract Estimate: 2 years, $14M

The Case For:

Trevor Rosenthal was an elite closer in baseball for a long time, repeatedly finishing top-10 in the majors in ERA and strikeout numbers. After struggling with injury and undergoing Tommy John Surgery in 2018, Rosenthal struggled on the mound. In 2020, though, Rosenthal proved that his injury issues were behind him as he posted the best season of his career, throwing up a 1.90 EAR with a career-best K/9 of 14.5. Rosenthal re-gained his top-notch velocity, repeatedly hitting triple digits on the radar gun throughout the 2020 season.

Trevor Rosenthal would slot in perfect as a replacement for Trevor May as a fireball-throwing right handed pitcher who generates plenty of swings and misses and strikeouts. Rosenthal would instantly be thrust into the high-leverage spot of the bullpen and allow everyone in the bullpen to slot down a rung in the bullpen pecking order.

The Case Against:

Rosenthal has by no means been a man of clean health over the past five seasons, as he hasn’t pitched more than 48 innings in a season since 2015. If the Minnesota Twins were to commit money to an elite reliever, it would be hard to do so for a reliever that has not proven that he can stay healthy for an entire season. To bring in an injury risk to a bullpen that will already be struggling with depth after losing Trevor May, Matt Wisler, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard would be an enormous risk for this Twins club.

Additionally, Rosenthal proved over 23.2 innings that he can be effective out of the bullpen, but it hasn’t been since 2017 that he has pitched more than 40 innings and proven to be effective. Should the Minnesota Twins sign Rosenthal they would be taking a big bet that he can be both healthy and effective for a long stretch for the first time in a long time.

The Verdict

Although the health and consistency concerns with Rosenthal are very real, Trevor would make a lot of sense as an addition for this Minnesota Twins bullpen and is the winner of this free agent faceoff. After losing out on nearly 100 innings of right-handed bullpen arms from 2020, the Minnesota Twins need to be able to replace that right handed production. To be able to do someone with the elite upside of the former Padre makes a lot of sense. Rosenthal being able to lock down the back of the bullpen and being able to replace the velocity and strikeout ability of Trevor May would allow younger players like Jorge Alcalá and Cody Stashak the ability to thrive in lower leverage situations.

Although Brand Hand makes sense in a lot of ways, it’s hard to envision the Twins committing money to a third left hander in the bullpen. Hand making more money than even his contract prediction would not be a surprise, and it’s difficult to see the Twins get into a bidding war for the southpaw.

Which of these two relievers would you like to see the Minnesota Twins sign? Are there any other relievers on the market you’d like better? Leave a comment below and start the conversation!

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