Former San Diego Padres closer Josh Hader signed a massive five-year, $95 million deal to land with the Houston Astros this winter. After spending the last year and a half with the Padres, Hader entered free agency and got the big deal he was looking for.
Hader's tenure with the Padres was an interesting one, to say the least. He was dominant last season but also had moments where it seemed he wasn't fully bought into the team-first mentality.
The biggest knock against him was his unwillingness to go more than three outs in a game. Maybe it was due to his free agency coming up, but it did hurt the team at different moments.
Hader appeared on the Foul Territory show and opened up about his time with the Padres. Hader implied that he didn't want to go more than three outs because of the way that he would be valued in free agency.
“I was going through the arbitration system, and I was with the Brewers, it’s not like the Padres put me through that process. But the system told me that the way that any reliever is valued (is) based off saves.”
Sometimes closers have been asked to do more than the normal three-out saves, and oftentimes, guys will go for it. Normally, whatever needs to be done to help the team is worth doing, but Hader pushed back against it more than a few times, leading to some issues.
“When I was told to my face that (going multiple innings is) not worth anything, like, you got to get saves, that’s where I was like, I’m not gonna blow my arm out if you’re not gonna invest in me. So my investment back was, I’ll get you the inning, I’ll get you the saves, but you got to put a team and a bullpen around to do that.”
Hader apologized to the fans but acknowledged that he did what was best for his health. Fans won't want to hear that, but it's a fair assessment from the former closer.
“It hurts obviously for the fanbase, and it’s not something that I wanted to do to them. But at the same time, I have to take care of myself and make sure that I make it healthy out of that year.”
The Padres 2023 season was a disaster through and through, but Hader believes he gave it his all. He was very good for the team when he took the mound, but it wasn't enough to get the team into the postseason.
“At the end of the day, to the Padres fans, I gave it my all, but it sucks that the business had to put that sour taste in their mouth.”
Hader now heads off to Houston, and the Padres are moving on. It was probably for the best to split up, but his time in San Diego will always be remembered for his dominance, especially in the 2022 postseason.
More must-reads: