When Josh Hader is at his best, he is quite possibly the best reliever in MLB. The left-handed pitcher is absolutely untouchable when he finds his rhythm, and after a difficult 2022 season, he bounced back with a monstrous 2023 season.
He consistently refuses to pitch more than one inning, that said, but if he comes into the game in the ninth, you can already turn off the TV.
Hader is currently a free agent, and the big question is which team he will line up with in 2024.
Often, relievers have to wait for big starting pitchers to sign a contract before signing in turn, and Hader seems to be a victim of this in turn.
This means that rumors surrounding his deal are rare… but Jim Bowden talked a little about Hader's case earlier today, and he said that the reliever is looking to sign the biggest contract in history for a reliever.
He therefore wishes to sign an agreement worth more than $102 million, the current record. It was Edwin Diaz who signed such a pact last year, he who had reached an agreement with the Mets.
We may have to wait a few weeks before seeing Hader sign such a contract (if he ends up signing it, obviously), but if it has to happen, he will have to do it with a team that is financially solid.
And according to Bowden, there are three clubs lurking in the file: the Rangers, the Yankees and… the Dodgers. Yes, the Dodgers again.
One wonders if the Dodgers will have the means to offer such a contract to Hader after getting their hands on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow at a big price. Shohei Ohtani may have a lesser impact on the luxury tax: it is still starting to do a lot.
For the Yankees, Bowden says the club is trying to come to terms with Jordan Montgomery to bring him back to the Bronx, but if he were to sign elsewhere, the Yankees would suddenly become much more aggressive on Hader.
And for the Rangers, we agree that going for the best reliever in the league would be a really good catch for the reigning champions.
So we'll see how the situation develops over the coming weeks, but Hader clearly wants to break the bank.
All that remains to be seen is whether a team will offer him such a sum before the start of the next campaign.
