Did the Milwaukee Brewers turn out to be the winners of the Josh Hader trade?

The Milwaukee Brewers surprisingly traded closer Josh Hader last season right before the trade deadline for more bites at the postseason apple.

The thinking was Devin Williams and Taylor Rogers could close games better than Hader and the Crew could get some prospects with the potential to help down the road.

That theory was proven wrong when Williams and Rodgers blew saves during critical games down the stretch last season. Hader turned around and helped the San Diego Padres to the National League Championship Series.

The trade was viewed as what killed the Brew Crew’s postseason hopes, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Fast forward to the present, it looks like the Milwaukee Brewers might be the long-term winners of this transaction.

The Brewers flipped one of the prospects they got back, Esteury Ruiz, for catcher William Contreras in the offseason as part of a three-team trade.

Contreras and Christian Yelich have been carrying the offense since July.

He is a budding superstar who still has not even reached arbitration. This is a cornerstone talent that only cost the franchise one prospect.

Because Contreras is producing at the top of the order and becoming a solid backstop, the Milwaukee Brewers are leading the NL Central with a possible playoff berth on the horizon.

Robert Gasser, the top pitching prospect the Crew got back for Hader, currently has an ERA under four and a solid WHIP at Triple-A Nashville. He is poised to provide cover for the Brewers rotation when Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff possibly depart via free agency after the 2024 season.

How are the Padres doing? Well, they are buried in mediocrity despite a star-studded lineup.

Hader is dominating with an ERA under one, but the Padres’ losing ways have him tied for 11th in saves.

Devin Williams is doing just as good of a job closing games this year for the Brewers, where no one has noticed Hader is gone.

The Padres’ major financial spending in free agency and trading away prospect capital has gone from being celebrated to criticized.

On the flip side, the Brewers’ belief in staying the course has gone from scorned to praised.

Does that mean the Milwaukee Brewers won the trade?

Teams can win and lose a trade at various points in time. Really, what the Brewers did was mitigate the long-term damage the Hader trade did.

The Brewers’ front office violated the sanctity of a season. The trade will always be cited as one of the reasons the team missed the playoffs in 2022. Considering the Padres got to the NLCS, it will always be a big what-if in team history.

Add in that the Philadelphia Phillies got into the playoffs ahead of the Crew and went onto the World Series, it will always leave people wondering if that could have been the Brewers.

Milwaukee still needs to make the playoffs to cement further walking away as not forever being the loser in the Hader trade.

If Contreras turns out to be the next great superstar with Gasser developing into an ace, then the Milwaukee Brewers could officially be declared the winner of the trade.

Add in the possibility of Hader departing the Padres via free agency after the season and San Diego having no championships to show for it, then the Brewers should be the official the winner.