Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Hot Stove: Offseason Target Brad Hand Signs with Nationals

Rumors involving the Dodgers and free agent players have been scarce this offseason. Save for the occasional “insider” dropping unsubstantiated reports on the hot stove (or even the ludicrous proclamation that Nolan Arenado will be a Dodger by Christmas), Andrew Friedman has played this winter close to the vest.

For example, it came as a surprise when the Dodgers were the source for the news that the club and Blake Treinen agreed to a two-year pact. Moreover, a flurry of minor league signings was also announced by the team before reporters.



Still, as we’ve followed the rumors from the insiders (and even Jim Bowden) all offseason long, we now have one to button up. On Sunday, free agent reliever Brad Hand agreed to a one-year deal with the Washington Nationals.

For most of the winter, the Dodgers have been linked to Hand on the rumor mill, with MLB Network’s JP Morosi the first to report the interest. As the slow hot stove trudged on, reports were that Hand was seeking a multi-year pact, something LA was hesitant to bite on. It turns out that the entire league felt similarly.

With Hand now a Nat, the Dodgers turn their focus to re-signing top offseason target Justin Turner, who may just be ready to finally sit down and work out a deal to remain in blue. Additionally, Andrew Friedman may continue to kick the tires on top free agent starter Trevor Bauer, whose market may not be as lucrative as he hoped coming off a Cy Young award in 2020.

Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!

NEXT: LA Favorited to Land Bauer, a Justin Turner Update & More

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

8 Comments

  1. 1 year 10.5 and they couldn’t do it. Pathetic. Going backwards like many world champions

    1. Could have actually had him before for $10m. And this was a guy they were reportedly interested in for several years. Go figure.

    2. Yeah totally agree but they can pay morrow $1 million for a MINOR league contract.

    3. The Dodgers should have jumped on Hand for 1 yr $10M. It would have been the perfect short contract leaving flexibility to re-sign future upcoming FAs, as well as extending Hand. Instead will will pay Jansen twice as much for less than half the competence and performance level. The closer spot remains a real need for the Dodgers. I think Friedman blew it on this one.

  2. The Dodgers approach to the bullpen market is interesting. They have no actual “closer” anymore (at least not one that can be trusted) and you have to assume (despite Robert’s statements) they realize that. They have signed an eighth inning guy and two guys who may be helpful in 2022. All this during one of the deepest FA reliever classes ever which is now gradually shedding its big name arms. Clearly, at this point, the answer is in house, somehow. Hope this doesn’t turn into a big time missed opportunity.

    1. Agree completely Bird. Instead we have Jansen, who will be paid $20M (twice what Hand will be paid) this season, and only instills fear in Dodger fans, rather than opposing hitters, whenever he takes the mound.

  3. In November Friedman said he wanted to “get greedy.” So far this is the most boring off season I can remember and I think we all got our chain pulled.

  4. The Dodgers only lost Wood and Baez from a very good bullpen. They added Knebel, Morrow, Nelson, Stewart, and others to compete. The Dodgers also added Price which will kick one of the dynamic young arms into the bullpen. I think it will be Gonsolin as his split finger is a great out pitch.
    Graterol will continue to get more innings as will Gonzalez. The Dodgers have White, Gray, Santana, and others waiting in the wings to compete for a roster spot.
    They do not need to tie up money and longer term contracts for the bullpen as they have a lot of young pitching talent they can bring up from the farm. Plus once they are in the playoffs it will probably be Kershaw, Price, & Buehler in the two shorter series with everyone else in the bullpen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button