4 trade targets from the Milwaukee Brewers for the Colorado Rockies

Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader could be a great fit for the Colorado Rockies

For the last 4+ years, Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader has been one of the best relievers in baseball and he could be a great fit for the Colorado Rockies.

Hader, who turns 28 just after Opening Day, has been an All-Star in each that he could be (2018-2019, 2021) and he has won the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award three times as well so he has quite a track record already in his young career. However, because of Milwaukee’s small market size and Hader being, arguably, the best reliever in baseball, he has been involved in plenty of trade rumors for years now.

In 2021, Hader appeared in 60 games and had 34 saves in 35 opportunities. He had a remarkable ERA of 1.23 and an ERA+ of 348. He also had a FIP of 1.69, a WHIP of 0.835, and he averaged 3.7 walks and 15.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

His worst season was in 2020 but he still had a 3.79 ERA with 13 saves (led the NL) with a WHIP of 0.947, and nearly 15 strikeouts per nine innings. That is the only season of his career with an ERA higher than 2.62.

One thing that may be troubling for the Rockies, on the surface is his low groundball rate, since groundball pitchers tend to succeed more at Coors Field. His groundball rate is only 28.3 percent but when you have a reliever that strikes out more than 15 batters per nine innings in his career (15.4 K/9, to be precise).

When the lockout ends, more trade rumors could arise for Hader since he has two years left until he becomes a free agent, if the current CBA stays as is with free agency. Rumors could be even more rampant if free agency is changed from six years of service time to five.