Should The Padres Trade Josh Hader?
Something has to give here with the San Diego Padres. The Padres currently sport the third highest payroll in baseball and sit in 4th place in the NL West standings with a record of 43-47. San Diego sits six games out of the third wildcard spot so it’s going to take a massive hot streak to even think about the playoffs at this point. Given how aggressively this team has been stripping down the farm system, should they think about selling off some of the rentals on their roster? Most notably, Josh Hader.
Should the Padres trade Josh Hader? I’ve been critical of AJ Preller in the past (Trey gets a win for the way this aged). In terms of Hader, I’m not even sure there is a discussion. The Padres have to trade him and they’re dumb if they don’t.
Hader, 29, is in the midst of his best season yet. The former Brewers closer currently sports an ERA of 1.08 ERA in 35 appearances. He’s also holding batters to a .133 average and a .426 OPS. Furthermore, this is also the final year of team control. Hader will hit the open market as a free agent this Winter.
Think of this as a mini sell off. There have already been rumors of trading Juan Soto. However, Soto will still be under contract heading into next year if the Padres want to run this back. For Hader, the time to sell is now and if Preller has any ounce of intelligence, he will move the lefty reliever to replenish some of the assets he threw in the toilet. Sure, the Padres could get hot but it’s looking pretty unlikely at this point. It’s time to sell and Hader is the most logical trade piece that should be dealt.
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