Milwaukee Brewers trade All-Star closer Josh Hader to San Diego Padres

The Milwaukee Brewers have stunned plenty of people on Monday as they have traded their All-Star closer Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

In return, Passan reports that the Padres have sold none of their top prospects. The Brewers will get the Padres closer Taylor Rogers, right-handed pitcher Dinelson Lamet, lefty pitching prospect Robert Gasser, and outfielder Esteury Ruiz.

The Milwaukee Brewers trade Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres

The Milwaukee Brewers are in first place so it might surprise a lot of people that they are trading their All-Star closer, but he had a rough month of July.

To start the season, Hader didn’t allow his first earned run until June 7, which was his 20th appearance on the season. Entering July 4, he had an ERA of 1.06.

Since then, he has appeared in 10 games and in 8.1 innings, he has a 14.04 ERA and a 8.88 FIP. Opponents are hitting .385/.455/.872 in that span with five home runs. That has ballooned his overall ERA on the season to 4.24.

Taylor Rogers had a similar season. in San Diego. Through May 24, he had an ERA of 0.44 and entering June 28, he had an ERA of 2.70. But since, he has appeared in 11.1 innings with an ERA of 8.74. However, he has had a lot of bad luck in that span (1.97 FIP).

Lamet has had a ton of arm issues in the past and this season, he has been awful for the Padres. He has a 9.49 ERA and a 2.027 WHIP in 13 relief appearances but the Brewers are hoping to turn him around and get him healthy. In 2020, he came in 4th in NL Cy Young voting.

Gasser was the Padres #7 prospect, per MLB.com, and is in High-A. He was drafted by the Padres last year at the end of the second round in the competitive balance round. He has a 4.18 ERA in High-A in 18 starts this season.

Ruiz was the Padres’ #28 prospect and he has already made his MLB debut as he has played in 12 games in the majors this year. Between Double-A and Triple-A this year, he has hit .333/.467/.560. His speed is his best tool, though, as he has 60 stolen bases in the minors this year in 77 games.

With not giving up any top prospects, the Padres still could go for the dagger and trade for Juan Soto.

We will have more news and analysis on Call To The Pen as the trade and story develops.