Twins interested in Brad Hand?

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

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

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.

Minor league deal, fine. 

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.