Friday has been an arbitration bonanza across Major League Baseball. Teams have either agreed to deals to avoid the process with their arbitration-eligible players, or they’re at risk of having to go to hearings because they couldn’t find common ground. As of now, standout Brewers reliever Josh Hader is among those whose asking price outpaces what his team’s willing to pay. The left-handed Hader requested $6.4MM in 2020, his first of four arb-eligible seasons, while the Brewers submitted a $4.1MM offer.
Considering what he has brought to the table since he debuted in 2017, Hader’s desired salary looks plenty fair. Dating back to his first season, the hard-throwing Hader has posted a 2.42 ERA/2.74 FIP with a ridiculous 15.35 K/9 against 3.17 BB/9. And Hader has proven himself as more than a three-out weapon, as he ranked 13th among all relievers in frames (204 2/3) during his three-season stretch of brilliance. He has also made it clear he can dominate as a setup man or a closer. Just last season, Hader racked up 37 saves on 44 attempts.
Even though they’re a small-market, low-spending club, there’s no obvious reason for the Brewers to trade Hader. They’re a team coming off back-to-back playoff seasons, Hader’s one of their most valuable players, and he’ll be easily affordable in 2020 no matter how his current financial situation pans out. With that said, the latter reason could influence the Brewers to go in another direction if they receive an enticing enough offer. As of Dec. 1, Milwaukee was willing to listen to proposals for Hader, who has drawn interest from such big-market teams as the Yankees, Mets and Dodgers this winter. Surely, if Milwaukee’s truly willing to let Hader go, other playoff-caliber clubs and hopeful contenders would enter the mix. That’s all the more true considering the dearth of high-end relievers left in free agency.
For the time being, Hader remains a member of the Brewers, who could at least retain him and decide on his long-term future around July’s trade deadline. But do you expect the club to move on from him before the upcoming season?
(Poll link for app users)
Don’t think he’ll be traded….brewers will ask for a kings ransom and I don’t see any team paying it right now.
….once the season starts and injuries happen and desperation sets in….different story.
Those “kings ransom” rarely come in for relievers. Theo was about the only GM in the league willing to do that. The Reds were asking that for Chapman for years and nobody would budge.
DBird. I mean the Rarity of a Kings ransom for Relievers may just be the fact it’s a rarity that RPs are dominant consistently. Hader is a rarity in his own. So him getting a Kings ransom would be two rarities happening in a trade at the same time.
Edwin Diaz brought back a kings ransom for the Mariners, and the Mets also got some of the King’s old laundry in Robinson Cano
Chapman also had some baggage that many teams didn’t want any part of.
Chapman only netted glayber Torres who is a fantastic player. The other 3 were literally throw ins to satisfy Brian Cashman. Honestly torres could have got both miller and Chapman. Glad it didnt happen. David Ross wouldn’t have had.a homerun his last AB in his career.
Orioles made a huge mistake getting rid of Hader.
I don’t think they will trade him this offseason. I do think they will trade him during the season if they even sniff not being in the race. 100% he is traded during the team control years.
I agree with all your points. It’s exactly what I see happening
If only Baltimore was ready..
The Orioles couldn’t handle the baggage Hader accumulated after leaving the organization. More than a few fans are wringing their hands over Jose Iglesias. Some have used the term “clubhouse cancer”. Baltimore fans are hypersensitive over reputations. If someone isn’t a Boy Scout, then the fan base goes crazy. Within the last year, I’ve even seen references to Albert Belle in Orioles blogs.
I don’t recall any O’s fans complaining when Manny Machado was with the team…
Hader for Davis and 100% of his absurd contract.
Milwaukee immediately DFA Davis.
why wouldn’t they, their roster is garbage
Still better than your cubs dray
Everybody is better than Baltimore lol
Judging by Stearns’ moves this offseason, I don’t see us parting with him unless we get top talent or an established player. We don’t have a staff that can take us deep and we need a guy like him to close out 1 run games in the 8th-9th
The Brewers will continue to overuse him since their starting staff is atrocious. He needs to get every penny he can from them, cause he’ll be burned out by thirty.
We have been burning him out, can’t disagree with that. But it’s necessary usage during the regular season. He was originally coming up as a starter. I think stretching him out like they have been can provide a benefit for the next year or 2 we have to compete. Only time can tell what their plan is, but it’s nice having a solid trade chip if we do end up out of contention.
They now have 4 pitchers that if healthy should be able to pitch 170 or more innings next season. So him being burned out(which is hilarious to say) is reduced. I mean looking at Hader’s stats last season. He’s maybe average in IP. and that is on the fact of his multi inning usage. When it comes to amount of games pitched in, 61games is modest. Claudio pitched in 83games.
Saying his workload was too much is just trying to convince yourself Counsell is the problem and Hader wasn’t. I think Grandal and Hader together were the problem. As Hader threw 5% less Sliders and that 5% went towards more Fastballs. How does Grandal come in to that. AS the catcher he’s flashing #1 too often. Know what Grandal had less of last year that was glaring in the 2018 playoffs. Passed balls. Lot easier catching a Hader FB than one of his sweeping sliders. Just look up and down all of the Brewers pitchers in 2019. FB% was higher.. Pina catching him 0.56ERA. Grandal 3.17ERA.
Watch Hader be better this season for Milwaukee with Pina to catch some more games this season. I don’t know what to expect on Narvaez.
“Continue to overuse him.” He was 15th in innings pitched among relievers. And 73rd in games used among relievers. This coming from a pitcher that has been a starter prior to the last 2 years. He literally doesn’t pitch in consecutive games or if they’re ahead. If anything he’s been underused, but I’d love to hear how he’s been overused.
Doesn’t pitch in consecutive games or if they’re behind*
The brewers have destroyed there roster in one off season picking up a whole lot of cares garbage last place and yelich demands a trade
They lost two major contributors from last year. Pomegranate and Lyle pitched one month for the Brewers. The guys they picked up and moved they made if the people have the same year they had last year they actually gain home runs and RBI. Their starting staff for the first two months last year was choucin, peralta, Woodson, Davies, and burnes. The starters they will put on the field to start this year is 100 times better and they led the NL till June with that staff. Know what you are talking about.
While losing both Moustakas and Grandal hurt I’m not sure which other players they parted ways with could’ve make this team any worse. They go from Grandal and Moose to Narvaez and Garcia which is a slight downgrade in overall production (5.7 vs 4.1 bWAR). Braun/Smoak is a big upgrade of Thames/Aguilar. Urias is better than Arcia and we are going a half season of both Hiura and Shaw to a full season of just Hiura which is a immense improvement regardless of Keston’s defensive woes. Now add in a bench of Sogard, Gyorko, Gamel and Pina vs Gamel, Spangenburg, Saladino and Pina and it’s not even close.
Enjoy Navaraez pretty sure the W Sox would rather have Graendal and Colome over him especially with a side of McCann
Let’s check back with the Sox in a couple years and see how enthusiastic they are then. Same with the Reds and Moose.
No idea what you just said.
Their division does not have a clear front runner. No way do they trade him before the all star break
Somehow, the Brewers seem to stay competitive each year, sometimes holding the team together with popsicle sticks and duct tape. I do like their addition of Navarro at catcher; everyone knew they weren’t re-signing Grandal. I think they should have kept Thames though. While Gyorko is a great guy in the clubhouse, I’m afraid he’s all done. Even before his injuries that wiped out 2019, he has been on a steady decline since his one breakout season with 30 HRs. I hope I’m wrong, but I have a feeling that they will need Smoak to step up and be the every day 1st baseman as I don’t see Gyorko contributing much at all to this team (but I hope I’m wrong).
In the end, it will come down to their pitching staff. They seem to catch lightning in a bottle each year so hopefully Stearns has pulled the right strings yet again and keeps them in the race in a tough division. Can’t say enough good things about Stearns; imagine what he could do for the Padres organization?
NO.
Knowing how baseball is, they could trade Hader, replace him with Fernando Rodney, and because, baseball, Rodney will probably have a 1.90 ERA and be lights out all year, leading them to the playoffs with whatever bounty they get for Hader.
An interesting Hader match: Oakland. They have spent big on closers and relievers in the past, and have massive amounts of legit SP prospects at AAA near-ready. Baseball Trade Values website accepts Hader for Bassitt, Pinder, Trivino and Logan Davidson. Both teams should make that trade.
no way they are trading him for scraps. Crew need at least one impact player in return instead of a few mid-tier ML players.
I don’t think a closer gets an elite player back. Bassitt is better than almost all their current rotation. Trivino has an elite ceiling. Pinder would be perfect in the NL and can play every position decently. Logan Davidson was a 2019 1st rounder. Hardly “scraps”. I’d say adding those 3 in 2020 will help them more than Hader, then they get a 2019 1st round pick on top of it? Good move both sides.
I thought we put the BTV nonsense to bed already. All it does is say “hey, 3 or 4 scrubs = one great player!” One would think there’s no GM in the league that’s stupid enough to use it.
Might as well keep him and see how the first couple months go. There will always be a demand for a reliever of his caliber, especially as the injuries start across the league
They won’t trade this offseason, but c’ mon Yankees, swoop in and save this man from overuse; and give him a ring along with it!
Go look at Chad green’s numbers the last three years, if you subtract green’s 1st month last season you could argue that he’s been just as good as hader. Now ask yourself if you would trade Frazier, andujar, and another prospect for a pitcher that’s at best a little bit better than Green.
The yanks overuse their bullpen every year. Not a good spot for Hader.
I voted no. If some team wants to reenact the Torres/Chapman trade, go for it. If not, stay in listening mode, hang around with 3 other medium teams in the NL Central, and hope his peak doesn’t end abruptly.
Hader for deivi garcia/andujar/clint frazier? Hoe has this trade not happened yet? Yankees want Hader
You’re out of your mind if you think you’re getting that for a relief pitcher, even one as good as hader.
Because you’re taking on garbage low ceiling players for the highest of ceiling RPs.
Andujar had a shoulder injury to his throwing arm and surgery that ended his season. You’re willing to take that back in a trade with no details if he’ll play again at a Major League level. Dude may be done and be a AAAA player moving forward. Never mind how atrocious he was at 3b defensively prior to a shoulder injury to his “Throwing Arm”
Where’s Frazier going to play? Bench cheer support? Has no options he’d have to be on the Major League roster.
Garcia. The Midget for Starting Pitching? Hilarious.
Garbage? That is why Brian Cashman has received phone calls from more than 10 teams about Andujar. Many teams have seen the offense of production and are willing to deal with his defensive shortcomings. Also especially now being he is learning first base you just come off like a Yankees hater. No one questions he will continue to have the same offense of production.
So why is Andujar still on the Yankees if 10teams are interested? Maybe they have the same assessment I do on him that his value should be a lot lower due to the injury circumstances. But Cash is holding out for something better than garbage. As is Stearns on Hader for NY garbage.
1b is not dealing with the defensive shortcomings of Andujar at 3b.
My guess is those 10 teams are mostly AL teams with using him at 1b/DH or the Miami Marlins forever rebuilding stage theyre in.
Dude you’re freaking delusional. The brewers can keep hader and I’m happy with the Yankees keeping all those garbage players you’re talking about. By your way of thinking a 24 year old missing 1 season is done, a 20 year old sucks because he’s a short pitcher, and a 25 year old that can flat out hit can’t improve his defense to become at least an average defender. You know nothing about baseball. Have a good day.
Relief pitchers are so fragile and volatile with overuse, or injuries or mentally unraveling. That’s why I think the Brewers should sell now because he is the most valuable relief pitcher in baseball and is perhaps the best as well. But look at Blake Treinen last offseason he was the best closer in baseball along with Edwin Diaz. And the As kept him and now they have nothing to show for it. Meanwhile the Ms totally made out like bandits trading Diaz and getting Cano traded.
So Hader is gone after this season for Milwaukee is the way you’re coming off comparing Treinen and the As. Got it.
Make him a starting pitcher dude could be the ace Milwaukee needs but nah let’s let him be a reliever to put in right after our bum starters get demolished
Considering the lone SP from last season returning is Woodruff with 3additions that werent pitching for Milw. I think being convinced the team has Bum starters is a poor assessment on your part.
Brett Anderson while true has had his share of Bum seasons, didnt in 2019.
Eric Lauer improved on his 2018 and had a 4.25Fip last season who should be good for 170IP this year.
Lindlom coming from overseas is that leagues’ 2time defending winning version of Cy Young winner here. #5 starters across the League are bums statistically. Crew have upside potentials to throw darts at there.
If only the Brewers tried making him a SP one more week in the minors they wouldnt be in this crap situation. 1 freaking day!
A major reason he became a RP is because he only had 2 pitches. Fastball/slider. As so many experts have repeated a billion times, the league figured him out (I’m not necessarily among that group, however…). If opposing hitters have somewhat figured out how to guess fastball down the middle, close their eyes and swing for the fences, while maybe facing him 2x in a SERIES, what do you think would happen if he faces them 2-3 times in the same game? Or facing an entire lineup of right handed hitters every time out?
Long story short, unless he develops at least 1 more plus pitch, he’s not going to be a starter.
In his first year of arbitration? Heck no. That’s the kind of move a team makes when they don’t expect to be competitive for years to come.
Still think the Yankees have the pieces to land Hader if they really wanted to pursue him.
I said no. The only yes would be the Yankees giving up Gleyber Torres straight up for Hader.
I don’t see what else the Yankees can offer that would make Milwaukee trade Hader.
It’d be a ton more than that.
I dont agree. Torres I believe has every bit the value Hader does. Though He doesnt have the flashiest of Defense at SS by the numbers. SS would be his home for Milw. Huira blocks him from his best position at 2b.
Lol
Maybe they can throw in that Dominguez kid and call it a day.
Hahahahaha, hader has more value than a 23 year-old all star? Thanks I needed a good laugh. Didn’t know we had clowns commenting on here.
To all of those people who are saying Torres for Josh I want what you are smoking. The Yankees will not trade Torres no way no how. Also you have to remember Milwaukee wants to trade Josh because of the financial commitments that will have to be made over the next few years so they are not going to get a premium return for him. At best you are looking at probably one major-league ready player and to top prospects. Sorry to burst the bubble of any Brewers fans but that is the best offer you are getting maybe if you are lucky you get those two top prospects, a player like Andujar and a mid-level prospect.
He’ll be a Cub
I’m definitely concerned if I’m any team looking at Hader because it truly makes no sense for Milwaukee to deal him if they consider themselves contenders. If they don’t they should deal others before Hader. Also No teams are giving up a kings ransom for Hader. Forget the past and the comments he made, that’s the past and he’s acknowledged it and his teammates were very supportive. I just don’t see any team dealing away multiple high end prospects to the Brewers for a bullpen arm especially when the Brewers need him as much as any team contending, just sets off alarms. Unless the Brewers want to address the big club and add pieces to help them contend still.
A trade such as German, Andujar, and Holder solves the Brewers 3rd base, starting pitching, and bullpen holes. I just don’t think A trade between the Yanks and Brewers work because just too many pieces involved.
Brewers need to be careful about selling low on Hader. There is risk with injury but even at around $6mil the team is better served waiting for a good trade offer since Hader has 3 more arbitration seasons of control.
I’d love to see the Cardinals or the Yankees trade for Hadar!!!!!
Brewers are in an awkward position right now with Hader. If they don’t offer him a multi-year deal and go to arbitration, those hearings – regardless of outcome – can leave a very bad taste in a player’s mouth. We all understand it’s just business, but when your employer is sitting across the table focusing on your tiniest flaws and making a case that you aren’t worth anywhere near your figure, it can be hard to get past that. This is why so many teams opt to settle before it comes to that.
And don’t forget to mention his probable future role of Grand Wizard of the Klan. Just sayin’…
Brewers management has run Hader into the ground. He began showing obvious signs of weakening in the second half of last season from his typical domination of other teams. The Brewers will never get the haul of players for Hader that they will presently. If the Brewers continue to overwork him and he falters in 2020 his trade return will quickly diminish. After Hader’s back to back super seasons he will win his arbitration salary. Brewers management will likely be irritated by having to pay fairly for such a talent.
Trade him now, roster is a mess, team not going anywhere except down