Minnesota Twins Interested In 3-Time All-Star Reliever

Pretty much all of the top relievers are off the board by this point, but there are still some bullpen arms floating around for teams to pick off the free agent. The Minnesota Twins are showing interest in Brad Hand.

A reliever on the #MNTwins radar, I hear: Chaska high school alum Brad Hand. The 3-time All-Star spent last season with the Phillies. Slider his go-to pitch. Handful of capable relievers left on market. Twins weren’t really in on Fulmer or Chafin, FWIW. pic.twitter.com/tqeQsab989

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) February 13, 2023

Minnesota—Hand's hometown—is really the first team who have been said to have any interest in the left-hander.  

Hand isn't the All-Star closer he once was, but he did have a serviceable season in 2022 in the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen. He posted a 2.80 ERA in 45 innings, though the walks were an untenable 4.6 per nine innings and the 38:23 strikeout to walk ratio could lead to trouble. 

In his previous incarnation, he topped the 30-save mark twice, in 2018-2019, with the San Diego Padres and the Cleveland Guardians, and was an All-Star from three straight seasons beginning in 2017. 

But his strikeout rate has been nearly cut in half from those days, down from 13.3 K/9 to just 7.6 K/9 last season. 

He'll be 33 before Opening Day.

Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports