Brewers: This Proposed Josh Hader-Mets Trade Is A Doozy

Brewers LHP Josh Hader is the subject of a lot of trade speculation this winter. But this proposal from Jim Duquette is… something.

Jim Duquette is a former front office executive that now works at MLB Network. He decided to come up with a trade proposal between the Brewers and the Mets that would see Josh Hader go to New York.

The two sides could be a speculative match, given the Mets’ desire to compete and win and the Brewers’ desire to better manage their payroll. However, the Mets also don’t have a great farm system and there are plenty of free agents the Mets could get to help lock down their bullpen.

But let’s look at this trade proposal from Duquette, with a hat tip to Megan Brown for posting it.

So in return for their relief ace, the Brewers get EITHER 3B J.D. Davis OR SS Andres Gimenez and then 27 year old out of options Corey Oswalt. They don’t get both of the infield prospects, just one of them, in this proposal, and then a pitcher that’s older than Hader is and doesn’t have any minor league options remaining.

Having Davis as the centerpiece would make sense. He had a breakout 2019 season and another strong year in 2020 although not quite as good. He has four years of team control left and is just entering his first year of arbitration. He would solve the third base issue for the Brewers for the next four seasons.

However, just getting Davis back and then a 27 year old starter with a career 6.19 ERA doesn’t seem like enough. There doesn’t seem to be any upside with Oswalt, who is in no way related to Roy Oswalt, and there’s no development to be had. The Brewers would likely rather get a young lottery ticket pitcher from Rookie ball than an older, out of options guy like Oswalt.

Not only that, but the Brewers ALSO have to give up a mid-level prospect? Like what?

If the Mets put up a trade offer like that for Josh Hader, David Stearns would flat out say no.

Stearns is not selling Hader, he’s simply listening and will want to see if another team will meet his price. That’s what the Rays did with Blake Snell and they found a team that was willing to meet that price.

The package Stearns will be willing to accept is going to look a bit more like Snell’s and less like whatever Duquette just proposed. Will Stearns actually get offered a package like that? Perhaps not, but Stearns will be just fine keeping Hader on his roster in 2021.

Since Hader is a reliever, he’s not going to bring back quite as much as Snell. Still, Hader would be able to bring back more than what Duquette proposed. If a Hader trade does happen this will not be the type of package that will come back to Milwaukee.

The Brewers are willing to listen on Hader, as they’re willing to listen on basically everybody.