Hand thankful for brief time with Nats, new chance with Jays

Amid the chaos of his move from the Nationals to the Blue Jays just prior to last month's trade deadline, Brad Hand couldn't help but chuckle when he noticed where one of his new team's first road trips would take him.

"Right when I got traded, I looked at the Toronto schedule and knew that we were coming here in two weeks," Hand said Tuesday near the visitors' dugout at Nationals Park. "I left my golf clubs here, so I'll have to pick those up."

It was a convenient - or perhaps in some ways - awkward coincidence that the Blue Jays actually were making a rare trip to D.C. shortly after the trade deadline. Who would've guessed that the first of the eight veterans the Nationals dealt away in a massive late July sell-off would be one of the ones who went to an American League club?

Hand unknowingly but undeniably played a role in his trade - and arguably the Nationals' overall path at the deadline.

The team was already trending downward as a result of injuries and other disappointing performances when the lefty took the mound July 25 at Camden Yards looking to close out a victory over the Orioles. He wound up blowing that save, then another the following night in Philadelphia, losses that helped convince general manager Mike Rizzo to sell at the deadline.

That made the news of his trade to Toronto for catching prospect Riley Adams two days later somewhat expected.

"I wouldn't say I was surprised," Hand said. "I knew kind of what the talk had been. We were kind of on the fence whether it was going to happen or not, but it definitely wasn't a surprise when he told me that I had been traded."

Signed over the winter to a $10.5 million contract and tasked with closing for a Nationals club with postseason aspirations, Hand now finds himself pitching for a Blue Jays club that is trying to hang in a deep American League East race and still has October visions of its own.

"It's definitely disappointing when you come to a team that is trying to win a championship. Obviously, it didn't work out. We couldn't get it done here," he said. "But it's part of the game and part of what happens. I was happy to come over here and try to help these guys out."

As was the case in Washington, the results for Hand in Toronto have been mixed so far. He was scored upon in each of his first two outings, taking the loss in the second. He also entered a tie game in Seattle last week with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and walked in the winning run on four pitches.

But Hand hasn't been charged with a run in his last five appearances and has issued only that one (unfortunately timed) walk since the trade.

It's gone kind of like it went for the Nationals, who saw Hand dominate for stretches but then suffer some high-profile ninth-inning meltdowns that played a real role in the team's eventual downfall.

Hand says he'll remember his four months in D.C. fondly, though. Not because of what happened on the field, but because of the people he went through it all with.

"I loved playing here," he said. "The guys we had here, the coaches, the front office, I respected all of them and had a good time with them here."