Cleveland Indians: Evaluating the Tribe’s upcoming free agents

Brad Hand – 2021 Club Option

While the season ended on a sour note for Brad Hand in the Wild Card series against the New York Yankees, he still showed an impressive performance over the course of the year, being perfect in save opportunities during the regular season.

Regardless of how well he played, his contract will be one that will take some thought for the organization. The Indians saw potential in a handful of other relievers, like Nick Wittgren and James Karinchak and will also get back prospect Emmanuel Clase in 2021 who missed the season due to suspension after coming over via trade.

Should the Indians feel like they can move on from Hand, the financial relief might be worth it. As it stands, Hand’s club option for the 2021 season would cost the team $10 million.

Hand will be 31-years old when the 2021 season gets underway, so moving on from him now might seem a bit premature. However, it follows the path that the team has shown. Cody Allen was 29 during his final season with the Tribe and Chris Perez was 27, being the team’s two previous closers before Hand.

While each pitcher is different, the Indians’ framework and timetable for pitchers seems to spell out the potential end of Hand’s tenure in Cleveland. It might be difficult to just let him walk, though, so picking up his option to deal him during the offseason during a trade might be a possibility as well.