The Mets missed the chance to bolster their bulls on Sunday when left-back Brad Hand signed a $ 10.5 million one-year deal with the Nationals.
Hand was on the Mets radar this season and would help balance the club’s mostly fair emergency corps.
Team president Sandy Alderson said earlier that the Mets could have claimed maintenance in November for a $ 10 million direct waiver plus a $ 50,000 deal, if new ownership led by Steve Cohen was in place at the time.
Hand, who turns 32 in March, eventually becomes a free agent. He was 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA, a 0.773 WHIP and 16 saves last season for Cleveland.
News of Hand’s agreement with Washington was confirmed by Joel Sherman of The Post.
The Mets have been without a general manager since Jared Porter was sacked last week after it came to light that he had sent explicit texts to a female reporter five years earlier.
Alderson has since accepted GM responsibilities, a position he previously held at the Mets.