Lose a Closer, Sign a Closer: Why Brad Hand is The Key to a Strong Blue Jays Offseason

After a season in which the Jays star closer Ken Giles went down with a huge injury, the team heads into the offseason with many questions ahead for their bullpen. In 2020 Giles only managed to get 3.2 innings under his belt before heading to the surgical room for Tommy John surgery. He is now likely to miss the entire 2021 season, and being a free agent now, the Jays are unlikely to pick him back up.

Starting the 2020 campaign the Blue Jays bullpen was filled with uncertainty. Fortunately for the team many players unexpectedly stepped up for the year, making the bullpen one of Toronto’s strongest assets. Players like Anthony Bass (waivers), AJ Cole (minor league deal), Rafael Dolis (signed out of Nippon pro ball) — who were originally largely considered depth options — became significant pieces in the back end for the Jays, as well as Ryan Borucki, Anthony Kay, and Thomas Hatch, who all suddenly converted from their regular role as starting pitchers. Even Jordan Romano, and Julian Merryweather — who had terrible minor league track records — showed up when the team needed them most.

Now that the year is over, the Jays bullpen becomes a question mark yet again. Giles went down with an injury, Anthony Bass is a free agent, and AJ Cole was non-tendered by the team, leaving him exposed in free agency as well. Romano’s season ending injury also brings uncertainty to the team headed into 2021. On top of this mess, Kay, Hatch, and potentially Murphy and Zeuch will be heading back to their typical starting roles next season, leaving the bullpen situation very bleak. Therefore the Jays will be left with no other option then to acquire some serious talent this offseason to strengthen the back end of their pen.

There are a few significant names in free agency that could solve the Jays issues, such as all-star closer and former Blue Jay Liam Hendriks, former reliever of the year Blake Treinen, former all-star Kirby Yates, 2x all-star Sean Doolittle, and more. However, the best fit for the team is Brad Hand.

Hand was unexpectedly made a free agent after the Indians declined his $10 million player option. He was placed on waivers, but did not receive a single claim, likely due to the decreasing salaries around the sport after the huge revenue losses this past season. The Blue Jays were originally rumored to have had interest, but there has been little news since.

The 3x all-star left handed closer had an incredible shut down year for the Indians in 2020 as the closer for their bullpen. Hand finished the season with a league leading 16 saves with new career lows in ERA (2.05), H/9 (5.3), BB/9 (1.6), HR/9 (0.0), and WHIP (0.773). Over 22.0 innings of work he also punched out 29 batters, good for a K/9 of 11.9. As a dominant left handed closer who is currently only 30 years old (Hendriks 31, Treinen 32, Doolittle 34), he is the ideal candidate to work out of the closer role for the Jays as their window for contention opens.

It is generally believed around baseball that the reasoning behind Hand being unclaimed on the waiver wire is not only because teams refused to pay the price tag on his player option, but also because most interested teams prefer to get him on a multi year contract, as he is one of the youngest elite relief options available on the market.

Hand would undoubtedly bolster the Jays currently weak bullpen, and a back end featuring Hand, Romano, Borucki and Dolis could form a group solid enough to start the season on a positive note. It will likely take more than just Hand to feel a strong sense of confidence in the Jays bullpen, but bringing on an elite caliber reliever like him is an extremely strong start, especially considering the team’s lack of left handed depth. Realistically the Jays have a good shot at landing him, and it would just be a matter of how serious the competition is in his market, as Toronto seems to be the front runner for Springer, and it is not yet clear what budget they are heading into the offseason with. Regardless, the loss of Giles last year due to injury, and now the possible permanent loss of Giles long term, the Jays might not have another choice but to spend a little extra to ensure they get the elite closer that every world series winner has.