Milwaukee Brewers: Josh Hader Gets Super Two Status, Arbitration Eligible

Although arbitration projections came out yesterday for all the Milwaukee Brewers players eligible, there’s one more name to add to the list.

This is a shocker. Right after the arbitration projections came out on MLB Trade Rumors yesterday, and we talked about how there were very few raises due for the Milwaukee Brewers, we got a big raise upcoming.

According to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com,star closer Josh Hader has achieved Super Two status and is eligible for arbitration this year, as opposed to next year, when we all thought he was.

This is a huge surprise that could have serious implications on the Brewers payroll flexibility heading into this winter.

Josh Hader’s Arbitration Case

As McCalvy pointed out, Hader is about to get paid big time. This is not going to be a raise up to two or three million dollars. 2019 was Hader’s third season in the big leagues, making at least 35 appearances in each of his first three seasons, and just posted the worst ERA of his career: a 2.62 ERA in 75.2 IP.

Hader finished 7th in the NL Cy Young voting in 2018 and has put up historically good numbers throughout his career and at a very young age.

With his performance, youth, and historical dominance, Hader is going to get big money. The projection for him has not been announced, but I would guess he’s jumping up to at least $5 million, probably more.

UPDATE: MLB Trade Rumors has released their arbitration estimate for Hader and it comes out to $4.6MM, which is a little lower than I initially thought it would be, but still would be a large raise for Hader of about four million dollars from his 2019 salary. There’s still plenty of room for that to increase over the next few years.

How Does This Impact The Brewers?

Now the Milwaukee Brewers have another arbitration salary to worry about, and it’s going to be a big raise. Instead of getting away with paying Hader near-league minimum another season, Hader gets to start earning closer to his market value.

This doesn’t lessen the total years of team control the Brewers have over Hader. He’s still projected to reach free agency after the 2023 series.

But it’s now four years of arbitration for Hader, which is four years that his salary can make significant jumps and eat into the Brewers payroll. Based on his previous performance, it’s going to jump quite high, and he’ll be earning eight figures a season in no time.

With the Brewers looking for all the money they can get to re-sign Yasmani Grandal and/or Mike Moustakas, this news takes a big chunk out of that available money.

While this isn’t good news for the Brewers payroll flexibility moving forward, this is great news for Hader, as he’ll now get closer to reaching his market value salary and get paid what he’s worth. The joys of arbitration.

Time will tell what Hader’s projected salary will be in his first year of arbitration, but he’ll for sure see the largest raise of any of the Crew’s arbitration eligible players.