Could The Milwaukee Brewers Trade Josh Hader This Offseason?

MILWAUKEE, WI — Milwaukee Brewer lefthander Josh Hader has arguably been the most dominant reliever in major league baseball over the last two years.

He's been a fixture in the Brewer bullpen, and a key component in manager Craig Counsell's late-inning strategy.

Hader seems like the one type of pitcher every competitor would want: a hard-throwing reliever who can pitch multiple innings and who can be relied upon to get event the best hitters out.

He appeared in 55 games in 2018, and 61 more in 2019. Of the 306 batters he faced in 2018, he struck out 143 of them. A year later, he faced 289 batters and fanned 138 of them.

A display of Hader's prowess came on March 30 in a home game against the St. Louis Cardinals. In his second appearance of the young season, Hader pitched an immaculate inning - defined as three strikeouts in a single inning on just nine pitches.

Good morning, good afternoon and goodnight three times in a row.

Baseball writer Ken Rosenthal thinks the Brewers could deal the star reliever this offseason. He's only 25 years old, comes with two more years of team control and is expected to make only $4.6 million in salary for the 2020 season due to salary arbitration.

Website MLBTradeRumors keeps up on all of the offseason rumors and deals, and thinks any deal involving Hader would be a blockbuster. "... Hader’s situation will be fascinating to follow. With free agency starved for relievers, teams set on acquiring one with a high-end track record will have to work the trade market. No one can quite match the track record Hader’s put together over the past few seasons, setting the stage for a potential blockbuster," writer Anthony Franco said this week.

In a SportingNews report, Milwaukee General Manager David Stearns was characteristically opaque when discussing Hader, saying, "We listen on a wide variety of players throughout the offseason. A lot of players get discussed."

One potential suitor that may be trying to line up a deal for Hader is the Houston Astros. Fansided writer Brian Murry speculates the team will be looking for help after the team lost a sizable chunk of its bullpen staff after the season. "I’m sure the Brewers are going to want an awful lot in return for a reliever of his caliber. But the Astros find themselves in a predicament this offseason with four of their relief pitchers on the free-agent market. They may have a huge gap to fill and the 25-year-old lefty may just be the answer," he wrote.