Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 7/20/18

FanGraphs | Jeff Sullivan: There’s two ways to look at the Indians’ acquisition for Brad Hand: either that relievers are less sure bets than acquiring a starter or a position player, but also that none of them have repeat rates (repeating their year one performance again) that are all too high. I know this sounds like a shock, but all players are big gambles.

The Ringer | Zach Kram: Look, the Oakland Athletics probably aren’t making the postseason, but they’re giving the Mariners a run for their money, and they’re modelling Seattle too in that they do have a budding core: Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, ace Sean Manaea, and relief aces Lou Trivino and Blake Treinen.

The Athletic | Eno Sarris ($): The Indians love their left-handed funky-delivering relievers, and Hand will join Andrew Miller in that regard. Hand has a devastating sinker-slider combination that could very well shore up Cleveland’s bullpen.

ESPN Insider | Keith Law ($): Law is high on the Hand return in Francisco Mejia, ranking him fifth overall and as a potential “4-5 win”-type player down the line if/when he supplants Austin Hedges. The return for relievers nowadays is something we’ll be able to analyze for a long time.