The Blue Jays have added another arm to their bullpen mix, announcing the acquisition of veteran lefty Brad Hand from the Nationals in exchange for catcher Riley Adams. Hand, who signed a one-year, $10.5MM deal with the Nats this past offseason, will be a free agent at season’s end.
Hand, 31, has been one of the game’s most effective left-handed relievers in recent years, but his results in 2021 haven’t been as dominant as they were during his time with the Padres and Indians. There have been some signs that his stock had dipped in the eyes of those around the game; Cleveland put him on outright waivers at the end of the 2020 season, hoping a club would claim him and pick up his $10MM option — thus sparing the Indians the $1MM buyout. He went unclaimed and was ultimately bought out. Hand did eventually land a greater guarantee, signing at that aforementioned $10.5MM price point.
Some of the reservations regarding Hand when he was placed on waivers were simply due to financial uncertainty following the absence of fans in 2020, but there was also concern that the lefty’s fastball had dropped by two miles per hour from its peak level. He’s alleviated those concerns in 2021, tacking two miles back onto his heater and averaging 93.3 mph on the season. But Hand’s 23.3 percent strikeout rate is his lowest since moving from the rotation to the bullpen back in 2016, and his 9.9 percent walk rate is a career-high (as a reliever).
Those ungainly strikeout/walk trends notwithstanding, Hand has been a solid reliever for much of the season in Washington. He’s pitched to a 3.59 ERA, upped his ground-ball rate to its highest level since 2018 (39.5 percent) and generally limited hard contact and barreled balls quite well, per Statcast.
It’s been a tough go more recently, as Hand has served up eight runs in his past nine innings — three of which came on an Andrew McCutchen walk-off home run that proved to be something of a backbreaker for the reeling Nationals. Not long after dropping that pivotal game, rumblings about the Nationals perhaps engineering a rare (for them) summer sell-off began to pick up steam, and Hand’s departure (plus the persistent rumors on Max Scherzer and other prominent Nationals players) now make that speculation a reality.
For their half-season investment in Hand, the Nationals will acquire Adams, a 25-year-old backstop who’s already made a very brief MLB debut. That didn’t go particularly well, as he hit just .107/.167/.179, but he also received only 30 plate appearances with the Jays, so it’s impossible to glean much of anything from that limited sample. Adams has spent the remainder of the 2021 season with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, drawing plenty of walks and hitting for good power but struggling with strikeouts. In 143 plate appearances, he’s hitting .237/.371/.487 with an 11.2 percent walk rate but a lofty 32.2 percent strikeout rate.
Adams ranked 20th among Jays prospects heading into the season over at MLB.com. He’s already been bumped to No. 15 among Nationals prospects over at FanGraphs, where Eric Longenhagen calls him a bat-first backup option behind the plate. Adams, listed at 6’4″ and 246 pounds, is quite large for a catcher, but the Jays have been committed to developing him there. He’s appeared in just one professional game at first base, where he logged only three innings. If Adams proves he’s capable of sticking behind the dish and providing passable defense, he’ll greatly outperform many of the more modest value projections most scouting reports have placed on him due to concerns over his size and glovework.
Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post first reported Hand had been traded to the Jays (Twitter thread). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Adams was going back to the Nats.
What’s the package
Vlad and Bo plus some cash to makeup the difference.
That’s reasonable.
Makes sense.
Steve NOBRASKA. .YOU POST EVERYTHING. YOU ARE KING TROLL. CONGRATS
Dude I get why you may not like Steve Nebraska but that does not make him a troll…Yes this post was meant as a joke more so than just a troll looking for a “rise” out of people. The guy may not always be right but he does stand his ground on what he believes in and offers a good argument for his case usually backed with something (numbers/stats/old quotes/whatever) and he usually offers an insightful view point.
Those are things trolls don’t do.
Thanks, Dad!
Guess he can get a hold being his last name is Hand
You welcome son shine.
Ha!
A-Rod’s favourite line.
Riley Adams
No package
Now he can blow saves in 2 countries
Not a shutdown closer, but a quality pitcher that has closing experience. Good pickup.
Trades are coming in as fast as I can refresh the page.
We must be looking at different websites.
He’s been mediocre the last month or so
Mediocre is kind – he’s been bad
The write-up and the perception it creates is incorrect……
The last year and even a bit of the previous year that Hand was with the Indians he was far from an effective closer. Numbers lie when they’re not put into perspective. Hand was inconsistent in his job. He could not be counted on. That hurt both the rest of the bullpen and the managers strategy past the 5th inning.
I couldn’t understand why the Nationals and the national baseball media that claim to follow situations were so enamored with him being an answer to the Nats closing woes……any more then the Blue Jays should be today. Reputation doesn’t play on the field. This is not the Brad Hand of 3-4 years ago. Odds are he’ll have some good outings with most not so good.
During his time with the Indians he had a 2.78 era with 58 saves and only blew 7. That’s a damn good ratio. Not to mention his 34.8% k rate and only 7.9% BB rate. In 2020 alone he didn’t blow a single save. He was really “inconsistent in his job,” wasn’t he? How exactly did he “hurt both the rest of the bullpen and the managers strategy past the 5th inning”? Did he just start punching players in bullpen, stealing the manager’s scouting reports or something else because his on field production speaks for itself.
You did it again!
LOL
You looked at overall statistics and completely ignored what I wrote.
You’re now past a reading comprehension problem. You have no clue how to interpret statistics.
Using your analysis method, washed up former high production players are still producing so long as we factor in their good statistics.
If you actually followed and understood baseball, you’d have known that the Indians – who always plan ahead – accepted young Clase as the major piece in the Kluber trade and were bringing Karinchak along because they knew that Hand was deteriorating at an accelerated rate and they needed to develop the back end of a bullpen as they don’t have the cash to buy a name closer. And developing young guys into closers takes a few years.
All teams use statistics (and many fans as well). Those that can interpret them correctly are the winners.
Heavens ankle biter, you’re a lightweight.
How was Hand inconsistent in 2020?
2.05 ERA / 1.37 FIP
0.77 WHIP
no blown saves
11.9 K/9
1.6 BB/9
no HR allowed
May and July this year though – ugly.
Don’t worry, vtadave. Samuel has ruled out using numbers (specifically the numbers that prove him wrong) to assess players leaving only his personal feelings and speculation. He will simply ignore all of this because it makes him feel smarter.
Tell is how you really feel.
The Blue Jays don’t need him to be a closer, Romano has that covered. Hand just has to be better than Jacob Barnes was, which isn’t a high bar. Can’t fault the deal since the Jays didn’t give up a real prospect and Hand doesn’t affect next year’s budget.
Yankees fans rejoice. We love brad hand
And all teams love Chapman post sticky fingers.
Chapman has been much better as of late.
You mean the Chapman who has a 1.13 ERA and 15 Ks in 8 innings over his last eight appearances post the All-Game? The Chapman throwing 103 mph again and who blew away “Boomstick” Cruz two straight nights?
Obligatory Bird in the Hand comment
Nice post, I have to hand it to you.
This is one of the only sites where Dad Jokes can get over
Obligatory Seinfeld reference:
“I’ve got hand.”
“And you’re gonna need it.”
George Costanza for the win
This is such a nice refrain from the vitriol in yesterdays posts – keep the dad jokes coming.
where’s Greg?
Gotta Hand it to Atkins
did the Jays trade one or two birds out of their bush for him?
Blue Jays fans can’t be happy about this acquisition. Hand has been awful of late
Relief pitching is so volatile though, he could turn it around just as quick
they likely feel Walker can make him better
Pete Walker can fix him and maybe we can resign him for 2022. He was good until recently.. Now let’s finish the deadline with pitcher Ian Kennedy.
Kennedy would be a great addition to the bullpen. Make magic happen Atkins.
Why wouldn’t we be? Our bullpen has been atrocious for the majority of the season & all we gave up was a guy who isn’t even going to be a backup C for us as he’s blocked by Kirk and soon Moreno. Awesome deal.
I’m happy about the deal, we need depth in the pen, it’s been terrible for the last 2 months
You’ll need far more than Hand.
I thought Richard Rodriquez was going there. He would have been an answer to a real closer. Then the Sticky Stuff Police manned their stations, and poof – Rodriquez turned back into a frog.
I mean, they didn’t really give up anything.
To think ANY team could have had him for nothing and all passed… WTF
I don’t see who he’s being traded for……Nothing?
I think they’re referring to when he was non-tendered in the offseason
Yeah, as Nathaniel said
Gotcha. You were right either way….it’s nothing.
I know they didn’t exactly confirm it, but I think there’s a good chance the Mets would have if they weren’t in the middle of being sold. With hindsight I’m happy they didn’t end up getting him though, May and Loup have been great for essentially the same price and I’m not sure they would have made the same moves if they’d claimed Hand.
Maybe explain to me why they shouldn’t have passed? He’s been fairly mediocre this year for $10.5M.
Will he close or set up? Romano has definitely been better than Hand of late but Hand has a lot more experience
I’d guess they’ll run a bit of a committee based on matchups until one guy proves they’re the guy.
50 IP with a 1.98 ERA while closing for the Blue Jays in ’20 and ’21 isn’t proof? Then what is?
The only reason Romano doesn’t have tons of saves is that the Blue Jays never have save opportunities (they either win by 10 runs or blow the lead before the 9th).
Looks like Blue Jays found their closer.
Oh shoot? Will he close in TOR?
if they can acquire more bullpen arms to get a lead safely to the 9th, maybe.
I don’t trust any pitcher that has gotten worse since they cracked down on the sticky stuff
basically 100% of pitchers.
I guess the Nationals fire sale is about to start.
Could’ve gotten him for free in the offseason….. Ridiculous.. It seems Shapiro/Atkins know how to build a farm, have no idea what to do afterwards.
They’re not giving up that much. If not for injuries to dolis and merryweather they probably wouldn’t even need hand.
Still not an excuse. We didn’t have a good enough rotation to start the season, they should’ve added real pitchers to the pen to begin with in the offseason. Especially when they come free. They love their 1 year deals, Hand should’ve been in our bullpen already.
I don’t know that hand is really going to move the needle. He’s been fairly bad.
Funny that every other GM in baseball passed up Hand as well last fall.
Another bad take from Markkko what a surprise! Jays needed a closer/back end reliever and Hand was available. Had they picked him up they don’t sign Yates (presumably), Adams would still be in the organization and the Jays might have 2-3 more wins, generously.
Thank you for your poor excuse. Let’s stick with one GM for one team rather than focus on the 28 teams that didn’t need him for either monetary reasons or they had a closer. Jays had neither issue.
Ah Wild Bill rides again and still has 0 reading comprehension. This coming from the guy who wanted Bauer oh so badly and said Ray and Semien were bad signings. You have 0 baseball cred sonny boy.
Wait, how would the Jays have 2-3 more wins? Are you saying Hand would have been worth 2-3 more wins? Look at the Win Probability stats. Hand has not advanced his team’s chances of winning at the rate you suggest. In fact he’s been worse than all of the Jays relievers with a WPA of -1.08. That doesn’t change the fact that as you say in the offseason, he might have been a good option. There were some signs of declining performance at that point but still good production. But to say he would have done so much better in a Jays uniform than he did in a Nationals uniform that he would have given the Jays 2 or 3 more wins seems a bit of a stretch.
Nobody knew what Trevor Bauer would be involved in…. He would’ve been a much better signing aside the problems, over Springer. So that’s unfair.
Thing is people should have known. His weekend of cyber stalking a coed a few years back , would be a warning sign to many. I said this last Spring that the guy was trouble waiting to happen and if I can see it as a Jays fan I am sure there were Front Offices that saw it as well. ( those who cared to look )
It’s stupid to think that they can’t upgrade a position now because they didn’t fully address it in the offseason. Will they really miss a random prospect?
Also his asking price wasn’t “free” or he would have stayed in Cleveland.
It’s not stupid, considering they’re a few months late. Hand could’ve gotten us a few more wins, which would have us in a better position today..
$10.5M is not for free and not sure how willing the Jays would’ve been to pay that for a so/so backend reliever.
It is free considering it’s a 1 year deal, he’s off the payroll at the end of the year. They pay guys like Roark, Chatwood, gave a CF 25 million per year to be a cheerleader for most of the season … but you couldn’t claim Hand off waivers ? Every 1 year deal is free in my book. Especially when your rotation coming into the season was already lacking… stack up on the pen, the way the Royals did when they won the World Series. You add enough talented arms, good things happen imo. Shorten the game if your rotation isn’t good enough. They’re a few months late with Hand. Period.
Alot of crystal ball and the benefit of hindsight in your posts on Hand plus you and one other seem to not comprehend the situation last fall.
Every GM passed on Hand when he was on waivers. Coming out of a shortened season, a dramatic drop in revenue and uncertainty as to the length of this coming season meant No GM was going to commit Ten Million to Hand. Budgets for this year had not been set, owners had no idea the length of this Season, if there would be gate revenue etc. Seriously people need to actually think .
Okay, so let’s ignore the fact that they were needing pitching. Yet had enough “revenue” to give a cheerleader 25 mill a season for the next 6 years.
Sighs- That was well after the time passed that teams had to tender contracts. That is what we were talking about – Hand not being claimed on Waivers.
As you seem to like to crystal ball approach Hand has not produced this year to warrant 10.5 million.
Nothing to do with a crystal ball, it’s about managing your budget better. Also, going into the offseason Jays knew they’d have money to spend.. Atkins said himself.
He didnt say how much and he said in an interview that this years budget got finalized in December . Well AFTER Hand passed through waivers.
Okay, fair enough.
C Riley Adams going to the Nationals.
What a MASSIVE overpay by the Jays.
Jays dealt from a position of strength. I’m fine with giving up Adams for Hand. If Hand can get back on track, I like this even more.
The Jays have 4 or 5 better catchers – Adams was very expendable.
Did you see Adams when he was called up to MLB he looked so terrible. Yes he’s young and can develop but he looked so over matched that I highly doubt he ever hits at even a decent level, he’s a guaranteed out every time he comes to the plate.
He’s also a bat-first catcher. It’s not like he has the defensive skills to mitigate and that minor league strike out rate is a really bad sign.
Longenhagen calls him a bat first catcher but I don’t think that’s accurate. I think his size and power make some underappreciate how athletic he is. He is also by all accounts smart and really advanced at the game planning side of things. Pipeline has called him a defensive backup. I liked him behind the plate this year. He’ll strike out a lot, but his plate approach isn’t awful. He has had high walk rates and OBP throughout the minors. At worst, the Nationals get a viable depth option at AAA for a couple of seasons before needing to decide if he’s good enough as a backup catcher or maybe even more.
Adams would’ve probably been through waivers in the fall anyway to clear roster space. We’re talking about a 25 year old hitting .239 in AAA with holes in his swing you can drive a tank through. Minor league pitchers walked him out of fear of his power, but that’s not a skill that translates in the majors where they won’t, as he’s actually quite tall with a large strike zone.
My first thought was that Brad Hand was a good get, then I looked at his numbers for this year and thought that Axford would probably be better at this point.
Yeah. Hand has been mediocre at best.
Change of scenery might help, and hes still better than a lot of the guys the Jay’s have been using this year
Definitely. Jays are a better team. Could give him a boost.
Being reported that Riley Adams is going the other way. Needed to clear a catcher off the 40 man. Moreno for sure up to AAA if he makes it back from injury. before the season ends.
Jays get Hand for nothing basically. Adams would have been dfa’d to make room for moreno. So they are hoping Hand can rebound coming to a new team.
Moreno is already on the roster, but yeah, there wasn’t a clear path for Adams to get any meaningful opportunity and they had too many catchers on the 40.
That is what I meant 5 catchers is too many, especially with a bunch of guys we need to add to the 40 in the fall. 2 months of Hand is better then cash considerations in the fall.
He can be the complimentary lefty in the pen to Jordan Romano who remains the closer. A seventh or eighth inning guy when a bunch of lefties are coming up that inning.
So WSH’s now closer is Daniel Hudson (Covid list) – Tanner Rainey until he returns?
With a Scherzer trade pending and Strasburg out for the year, they should aim to lose as many games as possible to improve their draft position. Make the worst reliever a closer the next two months! I say this only half jokingly.
Hudson would be the one to get IMO – he throws heat and has looked good post Stickiness while Hand looks well, very appetizing for opposing teams.
Mostly a cash move, with the Nats picking up the proverbial lottery ticket. I know that RPs are eclectic, but Hand’s been taking a pretty good beating lately.
There’s a few jokes I can think of about hand playin with the bj’s, but cant post here lol
Hand has to be better than Dolis.
Good deal, glad we added to the pen without giving up much. We have a lot of depth at C. With Mayza and Borucki being our best lefty options it’s a upgrade for sure.
I do hope this isn’t our only move, we need a lot more help in the pen, a 3b, and another LH bat. Let’s not sell the farm this season though since it will be difficult to make the playoffs with where we stand.
I like Ryan Mcmahon if he were available, bats left and can play a decent 3b.
Jays a big flop despite V Jr and spending obscene amounts of money.
Obscene? They’re 12th in the league in payroll…that’s a whopping 12% above the league average and just a tick ahead of those notoriously free-spending Giants…
As a Jays fan, I do have to kinda agree with the “flop” part, though.
The real irony is that, between what they paid Yates for zero innings and what they’re paying Hand for the rest of the year, it pretty much works out to what they would have paid if they’d just claimed Hand from Cleveland in the first place last winter…
Who has Toronto spent any money on? Nobody, and they’re a very rich team.
Add the cost of Kirby Yates ($5.5 million) to whatever they’ll owe Hand. They could’ve just signed him last offseason instead of taking the risk on Yates, who had multiple bad medical reports!
Now the Washington needs to trade Hudson to the Giants!
Would be a good move along with a SP. Some cracks showing in the rotation.
Phillies phans sitting here like: ……
Maybe they’re doing the silent treatment on purpose, but I’m having a hard time believing it.
Is Hand’s recent lack effectiveness something mechanical or injury?
Lol. Shatkins is clueless. Should’ve unloaded overrated sausage Kirk and kept Adams.
Hell no Adams can’t hit at all at the mlb level
Agree Ryan. He can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. Kirk has way more upside. I doubt Adams will ever hit at the big leagues. Career backup if that.
I like it. Best of luck to Adams, but I’m very comfortable with our catching depth and I’m not really sold on him being more than a solid backup catcher in the future. Hand could catch fire and he has a solid track record.
I don’t know if Hand closes for the Jays. What’s going on with Merryweather?
Blue Jays may have got him at just the right time. His pattern has been: good for a long spell, has a bad 10 days, then goes on another good run for a while. He has just had a bad 10 days, so he is due for another strong 6 weeks or so.
Going from a team that should have stayed in Canada to a team that did
If I compare the history, fanbases, and facilities of the Expos to that of the Nats I’m hard pressed to agree they should have stayed in Canada. It’s been one of the most successful relocations ever.
That doesn’t mean we want them here.
LOL! Yeah, the Expos were a real success in Canada, with their 3,000 fans a night. Pathetic baseball market.
I can imagine the player reaction if someone told the Nat players they had to go to Canada and play in an empty condemned building and then lose their paychecks to Canadian taxes. LOL!
It’s a start, and a lefty with experience for a catcher that looked lost at the plate (small sample size) in his shot….all day every day
Need 3 more dominoes
Excellent trade for the Jays! Adams is a small price to pay.
Thumbs up on the Hand acquisition!
Very good pickup. and from the Expos! As someone said above it is a bit of an overpay trading Riley but the Jays got it done.
Two more dominoes are now needed. A starter upgrade to Matz/Kay/Stripling and another reliever. Unfortunately another Expos trade is likely out of the question. I would love to have Scherzer and Hudson back too.
I keep hearing Brad Keller from KC. Yikes another reclamation project and not really an upgrade.
I feel like Scherzer is the best move for the jays. Boras says he’d want an extension to come with a deal, the jays have the money and 3 year deal matches their window. As opposed to Berrios who has a year, but is on record saying he definitely wants to go into free agency. Plus if the jays can make the wild card this year, you’ve got the best chance possible with Scherzer on the bump. Either way it’s a lot of prospects going somewhere for some starting pitching.
Oof I think that’s a little steep for a rental…
Very steep. Overpay. Number one home run power prospect the Jays have and he is a catcher too. And he is slowly learning how to hit for average.
Will be nice to have him in a 7th inning role with Romano still closing and hopefully Merryweather coming back eventually.
adams isn’t nothing but he was probably 5th on the depth chart for catching so made sense to deal from that pool
I have long been sketchy about Romano as the closer. He’d fit way better as a setup guy for a couple years at least. He’s only in that role because Yates got hurt (remember him?). If Merryweather didn’t get hurt I think that’s his spot today, and with Hand I think you get him closing games right away. Proven commodity.
I like Adams more than most it seems and they did have a bit of a logjam at catcher. Dunno how good any of them really are gonna be though lol.
I mean Moreno looks as good as a prospect can look.
I think it’s hard to look at Romano’s performance this year and not say he’s not a closer, however his ability to miss bats would be ideal in runners on and game on the line type of situations.
If Merryweather and Pearson come back to the pen you’re looking at a really strong BP but they need to bolster the rotation
Good for both teams. Jays traded something they had no use for so didn’t cost them much. Nationals received at worst a 3rd catcher with upside as backup. Could be more, always a chance. Need to remember Hand is being paid as a closer but it performing as a setup or even 7th inning guy.
OMG … this is the same guy they could have picked up for nothing in the off-season.
Cleveland cut him rather than pay his 10 million. That’s why they are paying him 1 million.
So the Jays, like the other 28 teams, passed. I said back then it was a bad move to not pick him up. Now the Jays did get him and lost the potential of Adams.
On a positive note they have a closer again.
Yes Jeff, you and many others called the same thing. Losing Adams is huge. Way overpay for Hand. Hand is great with sticky fingers, not as good without.
But they got a piece.
Now they need to upgrade the starting pitching and add another bullpen piece.
JIMMER! I agree with your pessimistic a$$ for once man haha
Hindsight is 20/20.
Not many people suspected the bullpen to me this much of an issue, but remove Phelps, Merryweather and Yates and that’s exactly what we got, even guys like Cole would have made things better.
So trading him now for a guy who was probably not going to be able to stay on the 40man much longer isn’t the end of the world. Plus they saved 5 million or so.
Shouldda claimed him on outright waivers when they had the chance
Jim PALMer
Rollie FINGERS
Brad HAND
Who will continue this theme?