The Indians bolstered their bullpen in a major way with the acquisition of Brad Hand.
The Cleveland Indians acquired LHP Brad Hand and RHP Adam Cimber from the San Diego Padres for catcher, outfielder prospect Francisco Mejia.
For the Indians, they fortified their bullpen by landing the top closer in the trade market. Hand is under control through the 2019 season. Cleveland has the 29th ranked bullpen in all of baseball so they needed to upgrade.
Climber made 42 relief appearances for the Padres this season, sporting a 3.17 ERA. He will give the Indians some much needed middle relief help.
For the Padres, they added another elite prospect in Mejia. The Padres already had nine of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball and with the addition of Meija, they now have ten of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball.
The Indians paid a steep price for Hand but they had to. They needed to upgrade their bullpen if they wanted to stay in contention in the American League.
Hand fills a major need. You might even say, he gives the Indians the “Upper Hand”. At least that is what they are hoping for.