What is Brad Hand’s Trade Value?
Cedit: AP Photo
The San Diego Padres claimed left-handed pitcher, Brad Hand, off waivers from the Miami Marlins in April of 2016.
At the time, Hand was a struggling starter, posting a 4.00+ ERA in his career as a starter with the Marlins. The Padres were unsure of where the lefty would fall in their struggling pitching staff, and would eventually delegate him to the bullpen. Hand, embracing his new role, has quietly become one of the best left-handed relievers in all of baseball.
Brad Hand has appeared in 100 games with the Padres, not starting a single game.
He’s exclusively been a part of the bullpen, pitching in 110.1 innings thus far with the Friars. He has been extremely impressive in his Padre career, posting a 2.31 ERA, striking out 138 batters, while only walking 44.
Last season, Hand was 4th among all relievers in total strikeouts with 111, and led all relievers in games pitched (82).
Brad Hand is known for making opposing hitters swing and miss with his put-away slider and four-seam fastball combination. His curve ball is mostly known as his fly ball pitch, while Hand’s changeup creates an incredible amount of backspin. The 27-year-old is a lefty specialist that the Padres are fortunate to have at the back end of their bullpen.
That being said, Hand does become a tremendous asset come the July trade deadline. He’s about to enter the best years of his career and is under contract until 2020, making him very valuable to contending teams. While there is a chance that the Padres hold onto Hand simply because he is a great pitcher, the team will more than likely want to see what they can get for him. If the price is right, they will surely get a deal done.
Is Brad Hand as talented as fellow left-handed pitchers, Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller?
No, not at all. But come July, he may be the best left-hander that is going to be available for contending teams making a playoff push.
Let’s take a look at some of the possible suitors, and if a deal can be worked out.
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Diego works at Prep Baseball Report as an Area Scout in Illinois and Missouri. He graduated this spring with a Bachelor Degree in Communications and played four years of college baseball, logging nearly 50 innings of work in a relief role. Diego hopes to work in an MLB front office one day and has been a Padres fan since he was six years old.
Hi Diego, enjoyed the piece. Good topic. One other potential team is the Houston Astros. They were talking about this on MLB Network the other day. The Astros feel like they are one SP and a solid leftie out of the bullpen away from a good World Series run. I don’t know anything about their minor league system but they would be a potential trade partner as well.