Brewers: Ranking The Top 5 Potential Suitors For A Josh Hader Trade

4. New York Yankees

The New York Yankees have been an oft-rumored team in any potential Josh Hader trade sweepstakes. The Brewers have gotten calls from the Yankees over the past few years about Hader but a deal, to this point, has not come to fruition.

The Yankees already have three highly-paid relievers (Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino) on the books for 2021, but given their ability to run up a payroll, this wouldn’t hinder them from getting Josh Hader if they really wanted him.

What might hinder them from getting Hader is what they have to offer the Brewers in return for him.

One of the most talked about return piece in a Hader trade is Miguel Andujar. Andujar is a third baseman, he’s young, under team control for four more years, and fits a need for the Brewers. However, Andujar missed most of 2019 with a labrum tear after diving into a base, similar to how Jimmy Nelson injured his shoulder.

Then in 2020, Andujar was not able to earn regular at-bats and was sent down to the minors and lost his job to Gio Urshela. Andujar has had one full season in the big leagues, which was 2018, and he played well in that season but has only played in 33 games over the two seasons since.

More would obviously need to be added to that package. Someone like Clint Frazier is often mentioned, but he has never been more than a fourth outfielder in his career despite his high prospect status coming through the minors. Luke Voit and Mike Tauchman have been productive at first base, but it’s unlikely that either of them would move the needle in a Hader deal.

The Yankees could deal from their farm system, where they have some intriguing talent. Their top prospect, Jasson Dominguez, is likely off-limits. Some of their other top prospects also seem incredibly risky.

The Yankees don’t appear to be a great fit for the Brewers in a Hader trade. Something could happen, and if the Yankees really want to make a deal, they can find a way, but it’s not a perfect fit and that lands them at No. 4 on this list.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

Another big market team with a known affinity for Josh Hader and the ability to pay him the money he’s going to get over the next few years is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Fresh off a World Series victory, the Dodgers may not be as hard pressed to make a big ticket upgrade like they have been the last few seasons. Still, Kenley Jansen is entering his mid-30s and will be in the final year of his contract in 2021. By getting Hader, the Dodgers will have the back end of their bullpen locked down for a few more years.

The Dodgers have a bevy of position players at the big league level and only a limited amount of spots for them. That leaves players like Gavin Lux, who would’ve been an everyday starter all season long for nearly any other team, to sit on the bench or in the minors for most of the season.

They have the position players to plug the holes in the Brewers lineup, and they also have the prospects that would intrigue the Brewers to shore up their farm system.

However, the Dodgers also have been notoriously stingy with their prospects. They keep the ones that turn out to be good (i.e. Seager, Bellinger) and trade away the ones that turn out to be overhyped. It’s great for the Dodgers, but any prospects that they’re willing to part with should have a healthy dose of skepticism around them.

Gavin Lux is someone that would likely make the difference in Josh Hader talks. He’s a talented infielder that’s from Wisconsin and would plug one of the infield holes the Brewers have. He’s been successful in his limited opportunities at the big league level. The limits on those opportunities is more due to already entrenched starters rather than having a job and losing it like Andujar and the Yankees.

The Dodgers have a large number of players that could interest the Brewers in a Josh Hader trade, and it’s if they’re willing to part with the pieces David Stearns is asking for, a deal can be had.

The reason the Dodgers are down at No. 3 on this list, however, goes back to their level of urgency. When they hadn’t won a World Series since 1988, the urgency to win was extremely high. Now that they have that title, is the same sense of urgency to make a big move there?

Time will only tell, but it’s fair to assume the sense of urgency to make a deal like this in 2020 is lower than what it was in 2019.

2. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox could really use some good PR at the moment. With their manager Tony La Russa embroiled in a DUI scandal just shortly after he was hired, much to the dismay of the front office and the fans.

Over the trade deadline in the 2020 season, the White Sox were one of the teams to express interest in Hader, among other Brewers pitchers, and they have the players to pay for him.

While the White Sox made the postseason for the first time in a long time this year, they did not make it past the Wild Card round. The end of the year was kind of a disappointment, culminating in the firing of manager Rick Renteria. The young core the White Sox have spent the past several years building is finally ready.

Now that the core has arrived, they need to supplement that group. Adding Josh Hader to that roster would give them the lockdown closer they need to pair with Aaron Bummer in the back end of that bullpen.

The White Sox have a lot of young players that would intrigue the Brewers, but most of the players available for trade are going to be prospects in the farm system. At first base, they have Jose Abreu, he’s not going anywhere. At third base, Yoan Moncada is there and he just signed a big money extension so he’s not available.

At catcher, they just signed Yasmani Grandal so he’s not an option for a trade either.

The farm system, however, has a bunch of possible pieces for a Hader deal. Chief among them is top prospect Andrew Vaughn, the third overall pick in the 2019 draft. He’s a first baseman, which fits a long-term need the Brewers have, and is just about ready for the big leagues.

There are also some pitching prospects that are held in high regard that could be big league ready quite soon.

The White Sox are ready to compete and ready to make some moves to put their team over the top. They have some pieces that could work for Hader, but they’re mostly prospects, which lands them at No. 2 on this list.

1. San Diego Padres

The Padres were extremely interested in Josh Hader back in August. Their contention window has finally opened and they are wanting to jump through that window. They went essentially all out during the Trade Deadline in making the additions necessary.

They wanted a reliever to finish out that bullpen, and they came the closest to acquiring Hader this August. But the price at the time for Hader was still a little too expensive, and they went with Trevor Rosenthal instead. Now Rosenthal is a free agent and they’ll still need help in the back end of that bullpen.

For the Brewers, there should be a lot of intriguing options to choose from in the Padres system. There are a lot of exciting pitching prospects in San Diego that won’t have a job on the big league team in the near future because there are so many talented players ahead of them.

The Padres farm system is one of the best in baseball, led by southpaw MacKenzie Gore. Gore isn’t going to be available in a Hader trade, but there are other options to choose from, including Luis Patino, Ryan Weathers, and Cole Wilcox. Those are just the pitchers.

After pushing all their chips to the middle of the table this season, the Padres also fell short of their goal of reaching the World Series. The urgency they displayed in 2020 is not going to go away heading into 2021. In fact, it’s likely to grow stronger.

With the need still present and a whole offseason to look at players and work out a deal, the Padres remain a contender in the Hader sweepstakes and find themselves in perhaps the strongest position of any team to make the deal for him.

The Brewers will demand a haul for Hader and even though the price was too high for the Padres in August, things are different in the offseason. For starters, the Brewers were in a playoff race of their own at that time and trading away Hader without getting at least one immediate big league piece back would be counterproductive to the Brewers own 2020 goals.

In the offseason, trades between contenders are more commonplace and more easily made than during the season.

With a strong system, a desire to make a big splash, and the ability for both teams to fill needs, the Padres find themselves in the best position to land Josh Hader this winter.

There’s no guarantee that Hader will be traded this winter, but if he does, it’ll likely be to one of these five teams.