The hot stove has been cooking this trade rumor up for weeks now. The New York Yankees have been after Josh Hader and have been linked to him since just before the Winter Meetings ended in early December. Since then the Brewers and the Yankees have remained engaged, and the Yankees have appeared aggressive in their pursuit of Josh Hader. Now, we don’t know exactly what they have offered up until this point, but we do know that they’ve tried to put together packages for Hader. Jon Heyman has suggested that Miguel Andujar could be the centerpiece if the trade was to happen. Yankees GM Brian Cashman has shown reluctance to deal top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia, but from what I’ve understood in the discussions, Garcia is not “Untouchable“. Yankee fans have been sounding off on this potential trade for weeks with passionate people on both sides of the fence. So with that in mind, let’s dive into both sides of the trade debate where the Yankees would be receiving Josh Hader and the Brewers would be receiving a prospect package headlined by Miguel Andujar and Deivi Garcia.
Deal
Josh Hader has been historically good over his first three seasons. Hader has a career ERA of 2.42 and is averaging an astonishing 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings while winning back to back Trevor Hoffman awards (Baseball Reference). Hader had a .806 WHIP last year which is lower than any season current Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has had in his career. Simple point here: Josh Hader is an absolute stud. I have always been in the camp that you should always trade away prospects for sure things and Josh Hader is a sure thing. Hader is arguably the best reliever in baseball and he comes with four years of club control. The Yankees will have more control over Hader than they have over any reliever they currently have on the active roster. Miguel Andujar is great but there really doesn’t seem to be a place for him on this team right now. Gio Urshela came out of nowhere last year and took over the third base position. He matched Andujar’s ability at the plate while showing off MUCH better defensive skills. With the emergence of Urshela, Andujar becomes expendable. Deivi Garcia is currently the Yankees #1 overall prospect. He has shown flashes of brilliance but he does come with a few flaws. His 5’9, 160 LBS frame gives scouts a lot of concerns over his future as a starter. There are scouts that believe he’s overrated as a prospect and think he projects to be a bullpen arm long-term. The Yankees had the opportunity a couple of years ago to acquire Gerrit Cole but turned down the deal when the Pirates asked for Miguel Andujar and Chance Adams. Josh Hader is not Gerrit Cole, but he is the best reliever in the game. The Yankees are set with their rotation moving forward and Miguel Andujar is expendable, you have to make that deal if that’s the request.
No Deal
Josh Hader has been historically good, but his arm has been used a lot over the past couple of seasons. 168 innings to be exact if you include the Postseason. He also comes with a lot of baggage and one has to wonder how he would transition to the pressure cooker that is New York. If the Yankees made the deal for Hader, he wouldn’t have the pressure of being the only big time guy in the bullpen. But, he would have a lot of pressure put on him due to the price that it would take to acquire him. People forget just how good Miguel Andujar was back in 2018. From an offensive perspective, you could very well say he was the best hitter the Yankees had as he broke Joe DiMaggio’s rookie double record. Yes, he was historically bad defensively, but Andujar is young and very athletic. There is no reason to think he can’t improve his defense over time. If he can get to just an average level defensively, you are looking at an all-star third basemen given his hitting ability. Moving on to Deivi Garcia. As mentioned above, there are some concerns with Deivi Garcia and some scouts believe he’s not as good as his ranking. However, you don’t get to be the Yankees top prospect by chance. At just 20 years old, Garcia has quickly risen through the Yankees farm system to AAA. He’s got one of the best curveballs in all the minor leagues with an incredibly high spin rate. He has a explosive fastball that can touch the mid 90’s. With Garcia, you’re not looking at an ace level pitcher, but you are looking at a guy who can be a really solid middle of the rotation kind of arm. If the rotation doesn’t work out, he looks primed to be a dominant relief pitcher. Who knows, maybe Garcia could be just as dominant out of the bullpen as Josh Hader is now. If he transitions to the pen, Garcia could lean on his best two pitches, his fastball and curveball. That two-pitch mix could be lethal out of the pen. Turning down this deal would be banking on potential, but it might be potential that is too good to just trade away even if the piece coming back is as good as Josh Hader.
To me, the Yankees are in a great position in these trade talks. They would love to add a guy like Josh Hader who would just stack the deck for them in 2020. However, they might already have the best bullpen in baseball without Josh Hader so it makes him a luxury item and not a necessity. In my opinion, both Andujar and Garcia are expendable pieces looking at the way the Yankees are setup moving forward. Andujar is currently behind Urshela and I’m not convinced Garcia will go ahead of Domingo German and/or Jordan Montgomery for a rotation spot after the 2020 season. Now, the Yankees would still likely have to add another piece to make this deal, but the pieces would not be as significant as Andujar and Garcia. If it was up to me, I’d pull the trigger on this deal due to the Yankees lack of World Series success over the last decade. Hader would just be another piece to put them over the top. However, that is just my opinion. In all honesty, I really don’t think there is a wrong answer in this debate.