Brewing Hade

By : Mike Rifkin

On August first, the Milwaukee Brewers led the NL Central by three games over the St. Louis Cardinals. On Tuesday the Brewers lost to the Cardinals, in which the Cardinals clinched the NL Central. Now the only way Milwaukee can make the playoffs for a fifth straight season is by getting to the third wild card spot in which they are currently 2.5 games behind the Phillies. 

When baseball came back from the lockout, the league pushed the trade deadline back a few days. One of the major moves made was when the Brewers traded All Star Closer Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres for Padres closer Taylor Rogers, Reliever Dinelson Lament and two prospects. Hader is a free agent after next season and has had his struggles for both Milwaukee and San Diego but he is still an elite closer. Now if the Brewers were to shop him during the offseason that would make sense, or if the Brewers weren’t a contender this season. Rogers has a 5.91 ERA since joining Milwaukee and an 8.10 ERA in September. Rogers has given up six home runs in 21.1 innings pitched since joining the Brewers compared to one in 41.1 innings pitched for the Padres. Lament was placed on waivers after the trade and claimed by the Rockies. 

Now I understand that certain teams have to operate in a certain way when it comes to paying players. The Brewers thought with Devin Williams and Rogers their backend of the bullpen would still be solid. But the message it sends throughout the clubhouse is not a good one and why should players trust the front office to make the right move. I’m not saying the Cardinals wouldn’t have overtaken the Brewers with Hader but they were more fearsome with him and now there is a chance the Brewers miss the playoffs entirely. Then the blame game will begin.