Milwaukee Brewers: Asking Price for Josh Hader is “Bananas”

With the trade deadline approaching, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Milwaukee Brewers’ asking price for Josh Hader is “bananas.”

The MLB trade deadline is less than a week away, and in what is an odd and shortened major league season, it isn’t easy to gauge how active teams are actually going to be.

With the expanded playoffs, there could very well be fewer teams looking to sell, given that so many are still in contention. Then there’s the fact that in such an unusual season that could come crashing to a halt at any moment with a coronavirus outbreak, teams may not want to mortgage their futures in an effort to make a World Series push in 2020.

All of this applies to the Milwaukee Brewers, who, after getting swept by the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, have rattled off back-to-back wins against Cincinnati and sit at 13-15 on the year, just outside of the NL playoff picture.

Yet even with the Brewers’ up and down play, along with the uncertainty that surrounds the trade deadline, as he always does, GM David Stearns is going to at least listen to just about any trade offer. And according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required), that once again includes Josh Hader:

"“The Brewers, like most teams, are willing to talk about any player at any time, so it’s no surprise they again are listening on left-handed closer Josh Hader, just as they did at the Winter Meetings. No trade is likely, however. One rival executive says Hader is available, but only at a “bananas price.”"

Rosenthal goes on to mention that at 26-years-old and currently making $4.1 million which is going to continue to increase through arbitration, that eventually, and perhaps in the not so distant future, Hader is going to be out of the small-market Brewers’ price range.

While this is very likely the case, at this point, Stearns should continue to ask for a “bananas price” because Hader continues to remain elite.

The two-time NL Reliever of the Year has appeared in nine games this season, throwing 9.1 innings, logging seven saves, while allowing no hits, no runs, and striking out 13.

Although dominant, shortly after Rosenthal’s news broke, MLB Insider Robert Murray would report that several of the interested teams have concerns about Hader’s fastball velocity, which has dipped this season. According to Brooks Baseball, Hader’s average fastball this season is at 94.75 mph, down from 95.95 in 2019.

However, Murray would go on to say that the Brewers believe that Hader has become a more complete pitcher this year with a better command of his fastball, along with his slider being used more frequently. Brooks Baseball has Hader using his slider on nearly 35 percent of his pitches this season, which is up considerably from 2019, where he used it less than 16 percent of the time.

Yet with all of that said, if we go back to the asking price – you know, the bananas one – that pretty much makes all of this is a moot point. With Hader continuing to dominate along with him still being under team control for three more seasons, Stearns’ asking price should remain high for the time being.

Ultimately, these discussions around Hader are the likely result of teams reaching out to the Milwaukee Brewers and Stearns listening, rather than Stearns actively shopping the hard-throwing left-hander.