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The MLB trade deadline is just a few hours away, and teams are frantically making moves before they will be prohibited to do so. Unsurprisingly, the Atlanta Braves, who sport the best record in the MLB, are operating as buyers ahead of the deadline, and they swung a deal with the Colorado Rockies that saw them land Brad Hand in exchange for pitching prospect Alec Barger.
The Braves have one of the deepest rosters in the league, but it was clear that they could use some bullpen help at the deadline. They managed to land a veteran lefty in Hand from the Rockies, who has experience closing games and can be used in a variety of situations for them. In exchange, they only had to give up Barger, who could develop into a decent bullpen option for Colorado.
This isn't necessarily one of the biggest deals of the day, but it is still a fairly important move for both sides, as Hand was one of the better relief pitchers available on the trade market. So with the deal official, let's take a closer look at what both teams ended up with and hand out some finals grades.
Braves receive: LHP Brad Hand
Hand was one of the more obvious trade candidates across the league given the Rockies struggles once again this season, and he found a new home in Atlanta, which desperately needed another reliable left-handed reliever beyond A.J. Minter. Hand will give them just that, even if he is having a bit of a tough season currently.
Hand's numbers on the year with Colorado aren't great (3-1, 4.54 ERA, 41 K, 1.43 WHIP), but there's reason to believe that he can improve with Atlanta. For starters, he's going from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the best, which can play a subtle role in helping spur improvement for a player like Hand. And beyond that, he leaves Coors Field, which is easily the most hitter-friendly park in the majors.
He may not have the greatest numbers, but Hand has experience operating in a variety of roles, including as a closer, and should immediately become a key piece for Atlanta out of their bullpen. Minter will still be their top lefty option, but having another guy like Hand lurking in the wings isn't anything to scoff at either.
In terms of the package heading the other way for Hand, surrendering the 25-year old Barger, who is only at Double-A currently, is a price that Atlanta will gladly pay. Barger has been solid in the minors this season, but he wasn't even one of the team's top 30 prospects, so managing to land Hand in exchange for just him has to be considered a win.
All in all, this deal should go down as a win for the Braves. They picked up a high-upside bullpen piece who just helped the Philadelphia Phillies in their World Series run last year, and didn't have to give up much to do so. There's no guarantee that Hand will improve, but he has a solid track-record, and even if he doesn't, Atlanta gave up virtually nothing in order to land him.
Final Grade: A-
Rockies receiver: RHP Alec Barger
The Rockies are just one of those teams where it feels like nothing can ever go right for them, and this trade for Hand is just another example of that. Armed with one of the top left-handed reliever candidates available on the market ahead of the deadline, all that Colorado managed to land was one measly prospect in the form of Barger.
As previously noted, Barger was not one of the Braves top 30 prospects in their farm system, which is immediately a pretty disappointing result for Colorado. Barger is having a strong season as a reliever in Double-A (3-2, 3.52 ERA, 5 SV, 48 K, 1.36 WHIP), but he's already 25 years old, and will be 26 by the time next season starts.
Barger could end up finding his way to the majors sooner rather than later, but banking on a 25-year old still in Double-A to become a consistent major leaguer isn't exactly a good bet. Trading Hand is nice, but you'd like to see something fairly significant come back in return; Barger just doesn't appear to be a prospect that should have moved the needle for Colorado here.
It's tough to harp too much on this lackluster return for the Rockies, but it feels like they could have gotten a little bit more in exchange for Hand here. Maybe Barger ends up panning out and making it to the majors, but it doesn't seem very likely to happen here, making it tough to be very optimistic about this trade from a Colorado perspective.
Final Grade: C
