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Milwaukee Brewers: Looking back at the Carlos Gomez trade

By Kenny Jilek

MILWAUKEE, WI - SEPTEMBER 27: Carlos Gomez #27 of the Milwaukee Brewers runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park on September 27, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI - SEPTEMBER 27: Carlos Gomez #27 of the Milwaukee Brewers runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park on September 27, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WI – OCTOBER 12: Josh Hader #71 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts after closing out the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game One of the National League Championship Series at Miller Park on October 12, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI – OCTOBER 12: Josh Hader #71 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts after closing out the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game One of the National League Championship Series at Miller Park on October 12, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Josh Hader

Can you imagine the Houston Astros of the last few years with another amazing bullpen arm like Josh Hader? There’s a chance that they’d be on a journey for their third straight World Series championship this season.

By a lot of measures, Josh Hader is the best reliever in baseball and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. In fact, his strikeouts, walks, and hits per nine innings have all improved each year he has been in the MLB. He is walking fewer guys and striking out more. Last season, his 15.8 strikeouts per nine innings were among league leaders, only behind flamethrowing Aroldis Chapman. This season he has managed to increase that number to 17.0, almost two strikeouts for every inning he pitches.

In 2018,  Hader was an All-Star, something neither of the players the Brewers traded can claim since being traded. Most impressively, he won National League Reliever of the Year which is named after former Milwaukee Brewer, Trevor Hoffman. Most importantly, he closed out game 163 in Wrigley and was the Brewers’ best bullpen weapon all through the Brewers postseason run to the NLCS, not allowing a single run in 10 innings of work.

Hader has been everything the Brewers could have wanted out of a top pitching prospect and more. While he came up as a starter, I think most people would agree that his role as a reliever has worked out quite well in Milwaukee. Hader alone made this trade worth it.

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