Philadelphia Phillies rumors: 3 free agents to sign and 1 to avoid this offseason
By Mike Luciano
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Cleveland Indians. Brad Hand. 2. player. CP. 5
You don’t even need to know baseball to see that the Phillies had the worst bullpen in the league. Even after beefing it up by trading for Brandon Workman, dozens of leads were erased by a unit that collectively looked wholly substandard in a league that is putting more of an emphasis on the bullpen than ever before. The Phillies need to make multiple acquisitions to finally get this group performing at even an average level, but they need someone who they can trust to slam the door shut in the ninth inning, and Hand more than fits the bill.
Because the Indians apparently are deciding they want to lose games on purpose in 2021, they decided not to bring Hand back as they move forward with trading Francisco Lindor. Hand was an All-Star in three-straight seasons from 2017-2019 with both Cleveland and the San Diego Padres, posting a 2.67 ERA and 87 saves in that time span. Last year, Hand led the AL in saves with 16 while putting up a 2.05 ERA and not allowing a home run during the entire season.
Philly needs to be somewhat scattershot and bring in as many qualified relievers as possible, but adding a consistent All-Star caliber pitcher in Hand seems like a safe move to give them stability.