The Milwaukee Brewers’ trade of closer Josh Hader continues to backfire, at least in the club’s own clubhouse.
Brewers pitcher Eric Lauer became the latest member of the team to question the trade deadline deal that sent Hader to the San Diego Padres. Lauer said he did not necessarily think the team was worse because of the move, but said there was a “shock factor” and questioned the message the front office was sending in making that sort of trade.
“There was a shock factor to it,” Lauer said Sunday, via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “Everybody was taken aback by it a little bit. As far as who we have in the clubhouse and what we have here, I don’t think we’re in any worse position to win as many games as we should. The only thing I can think of was, from the top down it seemed like there was a weird behind-the-scenes message that was sent that a lot of people didn’t jive with.
“It didn’t send us the right message from the upstairs people trying to say, like, ‘We’re doing this and we’re trying to put you guys in the best position and we’re trying to win right now with you guys.’ It seemed more of a, ‘We’re trying to develop for the future.'”
The Hader trade was justifiable from the franchise’s point of view. However, one has to question if the Brewers took into account how the team would react. Regardless of the motive, trading an All-Star closer midseason for a prospect return is going to look like a sale, which will not go down well with a contending team like Milwaukee. Lauer is right about the message it would seem to send, and he is not the only one who appears to feel that way.
On the other hand, the trade does not seem to be working out for Hader or the Padres right now either. For now, it’s the rare deal that does not seem to have benefited anyone involved.
