SIMULATION: Yankees transactions at FanSided Winter Meetings

Trade for Brad Hand

Last week I wrote a piece on the Yankees’ need to sign a left-handed reliever this offseason. In the article, I name Mike Minor and Tony Watson as my two targets. I thought long and hard about Jake McGee, but watching him face the Yankees back when he was with the Rays, I was never really blown away by his stuff.

So when the bidding process began, I immediately went to Minor, but he was already being offered 3 years, $18 million by the Giants. I immediately upped the ante to 3 years, $19 million, knowing all along this was a bit high for a left-handed specialist with a long list of injuries.

Regardless, four more bids came in, with the Royals re-signing their reclamation project for 3 years, $23 million. So I turned my attention to Watson, only to find out that the Twins handed him a 2-year, $19 million contract with an option for a third year. But the caveat there was that Watson would be their closer.

Suffice to say, I didn’t extend an offer. I then took a shot at McGee who had a decent season with the Rockies in ’17. I topped the Phillies initial offer by two million, going to 2 years, $17 million. Thinking I had gotten my southpaw for the ‘pen, the Rangers swooped in at the last-minute and offered 2 years, $19 million. Too rich for my blood.

I began to seriously consider sticking with Chasen Shreve and hoping for the best. After some time of inner turmoil, I finally came to my senses and emailed the Padres to see what it would take to acquire Brad Hand, who I initially took a shine to last season.

Hand was terrific in first All-Star season of 2017, compiling a 2.16 ERA, 0.933 WHIP and 104/20 K/BB ratio for a dreadful Padres’ team.

Initially, the Padres’ rep asked for two top 30 prospects which included No. 9 prospect, right-hander Jorge Guzman and No. 5 prospect, third baseman Miguel Andjuar.

I immediately informed him I was not going to part with Andujar, instead offering another youngish infielder, Ronald Torreyes. To my surprise, the Padres’ rep was stoked with the offer and the terms were agreed upon.

Yes, Toe is a bit of a spark plug, and it’s nice to have a guy who can fill in at multiple infield positions. But I believe in Tyler Wade. Even though he struggled with the bat in first big league go-around, Wade has great speed, excellent defensive skills that extend to the outfield, and has shown the ability to put the bat on the ball throughout the minor leagues.

Entering year two of arbitration, Hand will likely receive a hefty raise from the $1.375 million he made in ’17.  With the belief that this number will still fall somewhere below Betances’ estimated $4.5 million for ’18, the club filled a big-time need in the bullpen while also saving some cash.