The Cleveland Indians announced Thursday that they acquired

All-Star closerBrad Handand pitcher Adam Cimber from the San Diego Padres in exchange for catcher Francisco Mejia.Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the deal.Hand has appeared in 41games this season and boasts a 3.17 FIP. His 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings are on pace to be a career high.Hand first became a full-time reliever in 2016 after the Padres claimed him off waivers from the Miami Marlins. The left-hander then enjoyed a career year Randy Johnson Jersey ,posting a 2.92 ERA and a 3.07 FIP, and averaging 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings.Hand was even better in 2017 after replacing Fernando Rodney and Brandon Maurer as San Diego's regular closer. He registered 21 saves and struck out an average of 11.8 batters, while his ERA and FIP improved to2.16 and 3.03, respectively.The Padres rewarded Hand with a three-year extension worth $19.7 million. The contract includes a $10 million club option for 2021.Elite closers are generally luxuries for losing teams rather than necessities, but Hand's contract provided the Padres with at least one reason to consider keeping him.By giving Eric Hosmer an eight-year, $144 million deal this past offseason, the franchise indicated it wants to be a winner in the near future.By 2021, San Diego may have climbed toward playoff contention, at which point having somebody such as Hand would be much more important.With that said, Hand's contract also meant the Padres could demand even more in a trade. He's under team control for up to three more years http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-a.-j.-pollock-jersey , so San Diego didn't have to settle for a meager return because it risked losing him for nothing in the offseason.General manager A.J. Preller has done well to rebuild the Padres' farm system after they tried to fast-track their journey back to the playoffs in 2015. Much as he did with Craig Kimbrel, Drew Pomeranz and James Shields, Preller flipped Hand for younger players who further strengthen one of MLB's best farm systems.Following the 2018 MLB draft, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter placed the Padres third behind the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox in his farm system rankings. Although San Diego is headed for an eighth straight losing season, the team's outlook is undeniably bright.Although their bullpen was one of their biggest strengths last season, it is now the Indians' biggest Achilles' heel. Andrew Miller is on the DL, and closer Cody Allen currently has a 4.66 ERA.Hand fills a huge need, and Cimber should contribute as well since he has a 3.17 ERA in 41 appearances this season.The 22-year-old Mejia has appeared in just one MLB game this season, but he is a highly touted prospect due to his hitting ability.In 79 games at the Triple-A level, Mejia is hitting .279 with seven home runs and 45 RBI this season.For the Indians Yasmany Tomas Jersey , acquiring Hand is a win-now move, but his contract ensures Cleveland has some time to show this trade was worth it. Should the team fall short of its goal in 2018, Hand will be around for 2019, 2020 and potentially 2021.Cleveland paid a steep price for Hand, but there are multiple avenues through which this can be a worthwhile venture. Stats are courtesy of FanGraphs The last time the Philadelphia Phillies hosted the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, they swept their divisional opponent, held the lead in the National League East and were 15 games over .500.What a difference six weeks can make.The Phillies have not won a series since that four-game sweep of Miami, and have plummeted out of the playoff race with 23 losses in their last 34 games.Article continues below ...The Marlins return to Philadelphia this weekend for the final time in the 2018 season. Wei-Yin Chen (6-10, 4.72 ERA) will face Zach Eflin (9-7, 4.42) as the teams open a three-game series Friday night.The Phillies have been on a slide for more than a month http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-shelby-miller-jersey , but the last two weeks have been especially bad. The team enters Friday’s game on a five-game losing streak and is 2-9 in September.Philadelphia (74-71), with 17 games to play, has fallen 7 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in its division and 6 1/2 back in the race for the second NL wild card spot. The only silver lining right now for the Phillies is that they have seven games remaining against the Braves.“As long as we are still in the race, as long as we still have games left with Atlanta, and as long as we can mathematically catch them, I will believe in this club,” first-year Phillies manager Gabe Kapler told reporters earlier this week. “That will not waver.”After getting swept at home by the Washington Nationals, the Phillies are 28-35 against the rest of the NL East this season. They are, however, 9-7 against the Marlins — the only team in the division the Phillies have a winning record against.The last-place Marlins (57-89) enter the series having lost five of their last six games and were swept by the New York Mets in a Thursday doubleheader.Chen has pitched his best this season over his last six starts. He has a 2.04 ERA and 0.91 WHIP since the beginning of August. Chen picked up his 10th loss of the season in his last game Chris Owings Jersey , though. He gave up three runs on five hits and notched six strikeouts in four innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.Chen is 1-4 with a 3.62 career ERA in seven appearances against the Phillies.Like the Phillies, Eflin has struggled lately. The right-hander has a 7.72 ERA and opponents are hitting .346 against him with a .971 OPS over his last five starts.Eflin, 24, was pulled after three innings in his last outing against the New York Mets. He allowed six runs on four hits and three walks Saturday as he picked up his third consecutive loss.“I haven’t been doing a good job of executing my pitches when I need to,” Eflin told mlb.com after the outing. “When you don’t execute pitches, they put a six-spot in three innings. But I don’t think I’m far off.”Eflin has surrendered four runs and seven hits in 14 innings (two starts) against Miami this season. He is 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA in three starts against the Marlins in his three-year career.