The Mets missed an opportunity to fortify their bullpen on Sunday, when reliever Brad Hand signed a $ 10.5 million one-year deal with the Nationals.
Hand had been on the Mets ’radar this offseason and would have helped balance the club’s most right-wing relief corps.
Team president Sandy Alderson previously said the Mets could have demanded $ 10 million in absolute waivers plus a $ 50,000 transaction fee in November, if the new property run by Steve Cohen had been in control at the time. .
Hand, who turns 32 in March, eventually became a free agent. It was 2-1 with an ERA 2.05, a WHIP of 0.773 and 16 stops last season in Cleveland.
Joel Sherman of The Post confirmed Hand’s deal with Washington.
The Mets have been without a general manager since Jared Porter was fired last week after it was revealed he sent explicit texts to a journalist while working for the Cubs five years earlier.
Alderson has since assumed responsibilities for GM, a position he previously held at the Mets.