Report: Brad Hand joins Rockies on one-year deal

The Colorado Rockies have agreed to a one-year, $2MM deal with reliever Brad Hand, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter links). The guaranteed money breaks down as a $1.5MM salary in 2023, and then a $500K buyout of a $7MM club option the Rockies hold on Hand’s services for the 2024 season. Another $1MM bonus is available for Hand if he is still in the organization by Opening Day, with Rosenthal noting that means either on the active roster or on the injured list.  Hand turns 33 later this month, and he is represented by the Wasserman Agency.

Once Hand appears in an official game in the purple pinstripes, it will mark 13 MLB seasons and eight different teams for the veteran southpaw. Hand inked a one-year, $6MM with the Phillies last winter and contributed to the Phils’ push to the NL pennant, delivering a 2.80 ERA over 45 regular-season innings and then a 4.76 ERA in 5 2/3 postseason frames. That small sample size of playoff work was perhaps more reflective of Hand’s overall quality in 2022, as he had a 4.51 SIERA and 4.90 xFIP, and his .297 wOBA was well under his .323 xwOBA.  Hand did a very good job of limiting hard contact last year, but with subpar strikeout and walk rates.

All things considered, Hand’s 2022 advanced metrics weren’t far removed—or in some cases were worse—than his 2021 metrics, though he had a lot more good fortune with that 2.80 ERA as opposed to his 3.90 mark with the Washington Nationals, New York Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays in 2021. (MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently took a deeper dive into Hand’s 2022 performance.) Hand was also a lot better at keeping the ball in the park with the Phillies—he allowed only two homers in his 45 frames last year, after giving up nine long balls over 64 2/3 innings in 2021.

The soft contact and ability to keep the ball in the park is naturally of interest for a team that plays in Coors Field, and the Rockies ended up acquiring Hand after a relatively quiet offseason in terms of publicly-known interest. The Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins were both linked to Hand over the last month, though in general, the market for left-handed relief pitching was mostly pretty slow after an initial flurry prior to Christmas. Only in recent weeks has the ice started to thaw, as names like Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore, and (just earlier today) Will Smith have now come off the board.

Speaking of quiet offseasons, the Rockies haven’t done a whole lot of note this winter, much to the consternation of fans who saw the club lose 94 games in 2022. Colorado has done a fair amount of work in the bullpen, at least, as Hand joins names such as Pierce Johnson, Nick Mears, and fellow left-handers Brent Suter and Ty Blach and Fernando Abad. Since Blach and Abad were minor league signings, Hand’s deal might push one or both of those other lefties out of consideration for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

The club option also gives Colorado some control over Hand’s future if he does fully regain his past form. Hand was one of the better relievers in the sport when pitching with San Diego and Cleveland from 2016-20, and naturally, the Rockies saw him often back in his Padres days. Since Johnson, Suter, and Dinelson Lamet are all slated for free agency after the 2023 season, the Rockies could keep at least one pitcher in the fold by exercising Hand’s option, if he pitches well enough to make that $6.5MM decision a wise one for the Rox.