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Fantasy impact of Brad Hand being traded to Cleveland

On Thursday the San Diego Padres traded relievers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for catching prospect Francisco Mejia. What impact does this trade have on the bullpens for these two teams moving forward and how much value does Mejia hold in redraft leagues?

Tristan H. Cockcroft: The Padres say that Francisco Mejia will remain at catcher as he continues his development in their organization, presumably in the minor leagues while Austin Hedges continues to handle the big-league chores, so I don't see a great amount of redraft value in Mejia outside of his being worth an add should Hedges miss additional time due to injury this summer. Mejia is the better pure hitter of the two and has a great arm behind the plate, but his defensive skills otherwise are questionable, which probably makes him more of a factor in fantasy in 2019 than this year.

He'd be a potential top-10 catcher right away if he's promoted into a starting job -- again, Hedges would probably have to get hurt for that -- but he'll have to first add that eligibility in ESPN leagues, as he's DH-only currently due to all five of his big-league appearances in 2017 coming at that position. He needs seven more games to qualify behind the plate.

Eric Karabell: Hello, Kirby Yates! The journeyman right-hander has found a home in San Diego -- at least for now because he could be on the move as well -- and figures to handle the ninth-inning save duties with Hand off to Cleveland. Yates has become an elite strikeout option for the Padres, whiffing 13 hitters per nine innings over his 100 games and 93 1/3 innings over two seasons. He even has a few saves this season.

Yates has done a much better job of avoiding home runs this season and should thrive in the role. The Padres are not good, but thanks to difficulties scoring runs are actually middle of the pack in saves and save chances. If Yates were to struggle with injury or performance, veteran right-hander Craig Stammen awaits opportunity and should he find a new home as well then watch right-hander Phil Maton, who saved games in Triple-A.

AJ Mass: With the addition of Brad Hand, Cleveland's bullpen becomes a potential three-inning beast the rest of the way. Although Hand could potentially get some save chances down the line, one would expect him -- at least initially -- to work the seventh inning, leading into Andrew Miller (once the Indians decide to activate him from the DL) and then Cody Allen to close out games.

However, in terms of the future, the addition of Hand is huge. Both Miller and Allen are free agents after the season, while Hand is signed through 2020, with a team option for 2021. Dynasty leaguers should definitely count on Hand to continue to get saves for years to come, even if the 2018 total slows considerably in his new clubhouse.

Adam Cimber is also coming over from San Diego. The RHP has been a one-inning guy who has been ineffective against left-handed bats (.293), but quite good against his fellow righties (.210). This makes him ideal for use as a situational reliever to get out one or two key batters, making Dan Otero somewhat superfluous.

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