Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic originally reported that the Mets were close to an agreement with free agent reliever Brad Hand. Now, he’s backtracking that a bit, saying the Mets are still “engaged” with Hand, but the deal is not close.
Hand, 30, posted a 2.05 ERA, 1.37 FIP, spectacular 7.25 K/BB, and a major league leading 16 saves in 2020 for Cleveland.
Hand’s numbers over the last five seasons: 2.70 ERA, 157 ERA+, 2.92 FIP, 104 saves, 12.2 K/9, 6.6 H/9, 320 innings.
Hand was released by Cleveland’s baseball team in October after declining his 2020 option for $10 million. The lefty was released at an awkward time for the Mets to make a claim, as he became available at that salary point when the Wilpons and Brodie Van Wagenen were on the way out and Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson were on the way in.
