4 Reasons the Miami Marlins should go after Brad Hand

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The Colorado Rockies would make great trade partners with the Miami Marlins for the upcoming trade deadline. The Marlins are in the midst of a playoff run and the Rockies are 17 games back and have no chance of making the playoffs. The three-time All-Star would be a great addition to the Marlins and a return home to the team that drafted him and where he started his MLB career.

Reason 1 - Overused Pen

The Marlins have had a series of injuries to their pitching staff and have dealt with struggles all year. Most recently Andrew Nardi was injured and was the Marlins set up man and stop gap for tough situations. Without Nardi the Marlins have had a revolving door of relief pitchers between Jacksonville and Miami with no end in sight.

The issue could even be further exasperated with Eury Perez being sent down and Johnny Cueto being called up. Cueto has been roughed up in every rehab start so far, which will make the bullpen exhausted, going from the consistent Perez to Cueto who could last between 1-6 innings with no way to predict. Cueto might not start at all but be bullpen help which in turn may not be of any real help at all, but he would replace Bryan Hoeing who has had some spot starts since Eddy Cabrera was injured and has done a good job at filling in, aside from the Braves game in Atlanta.

Reason 2 - Depth/Experience

The Miami Marlins as we have said need another bullpen arm to help the injured and beaten-down pen. The second reason is that the Colorado Rockies are shopping Brad Hand due to their record but also his contract status. Hand is set to become a free agent if the team doesn’t pick up the option, which the Rockies have no reason to.

The 1 year 2 million dollar contract fits in well with the Marlins' budget and since he is a rental he should come somewhat cheap. AJ Puk has been a decent closer this year but the 28-year-old has only 4 major league seasons under his belt and he has been injured this year, his first real full-time closer role.

Brad Hand would bring with him a veteran presence to the young bullpen and would help lead pitchers through tough situations, as he has been there before. Hand pitched well last season in the playoffs with the Phillies, and has pitched three different times in the playoffs in his career, and that experience is invaluable. Hand could be that reliable bullpen guy who is fresh (only 28 innings to date) to help the Marlins into the playoffs.

Reason 3 - Cost

The price would assumedly be right for the Miami Marlins for Brad Hand, and that should keep allow him to come. The Marlins don't have a very deep farm system and have only two players in the MLB top 100 prospects list so they don't have a lot to shop or give up for a primer arm.

The KC Royals traded Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers for a 25-year-old relief pitcher with a near six ERA and a 17-year-old prospect. The price was relatively cheap for a top-tier closer who can reach triple digits on the gun. Brand Hand certainly won't command such a deal and could include a minor leaguer, perhaps a Devin Smeltzer type and maybe a Rookie ball player.

Either way, the price shouldn't be a king's ransom, and picking up less than a million dollars to end the year also shouldn't hurt their efforts to acquire bigger fish for the roster, which could be a possibility, as Neil wrote about prior.

Reason 4 - Stats

The Miami Marlins should be doing their homework on any trade candidate and especially one from the Colorado Rockies comes with lots of questions. Any player in Colorado would have inflated stats, and the big question is, will they translate to a near-ocean-level field? In this case, however, pitchers often get the better side of things when they leave the Mile-high ballpark for a less hitter-friendly one.

In the case of Brad Hand, the stats show much better away from home, as suspected. Last season Brad Hand pitched 45 innings for the Phillies and ended with a 2.80 ERA and a 1.333 WHIP. The current season stats say he hasn't lost much, away from home. On the road Hand has a 3.29 ERA in 13.2 innings as compared to a 6.14 at home in 14.2 innings. In the same vein, Hand has 17 strikeouts at home and on the road, and has yet to give up a home run on the road, as compared to 2 at home.

The stats are on his side. Finally, he has pitched a scoreless inning this season on the road against both the Mets and the Braves and gave up one earned run over two innings in Philadelphia. He plays well against our division. So go ahead Kim Ng and see if you can get him for relatively cheap to support the Marlins pen going down the stretch.

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