Coming out of what will ultimately be a very forgettable 2020 Brewer campaign, Devin Williams continued to rack up award wins yesterday. He pulled down the Reliver of the Year award (third straight year a Brewer has won that award, Hader/Hader/Williams) a few weeks ago, and yesterday he was named NL Rookie of the Year.
Obviously well deserved for a guy that came out of almost nowhere this past season and became the most dominant relief pitcher in the game. His changeup, a pitch he worked on perfecting in between 2019 and 2020, is straight up FILTH. Just falls off of the table. These are fighting words for long time fans of the game, but it’s the best changeup I’ve seen since Trevor Hoffman. And I’m not talking about Hoffman when he was in the twilight of his career in Milwaukee. I’m talking about Hoffman in his heyday in San Diego. When he was throwing 95-97 mph on his fastball and his changeup dipped into the low 80’s. That’s what Williams is cooking with right now.
Now I am not in the ‘trade Hader!’ camp, but I will concede that Williams has made me at least rethink that stance. There were a few times last year, in close 1-run games, where I thought, ‘I’d prefer we bring Williams back out for the 9th.’ He just didn’t give up ANY runs. He gave up the only earned run he yielded all season in his second appearance. After that? Squadoosh. So if David Stearns WERE to entertain the idea of trading Hader, at least you have a very natural successor for that role, who may in fact be even better. And in an offseason coming off of a pandemic-shortened year, where big money contracts aren’t likely to be handed out, a big trade may be the only way to change the look of your team*.
*’I’m not in the trade Hader camp.’ Proceeds to give 2-3 bullet points of reasons to trade Hader.
PS: The other big news of the offseason so far was the team turning down Ryan Braun’s option. That in and of itself was not stunning, there’s no value for the team in paying Braun 15 million a season at this stage of his career, but it does likely put a cap on one of the greatest Brewer careers of all time. I realize we’ll never be able to have a Ryan Braun retrospective without talking about PED’s and the lying about PED’s, but even with that, he’s #3 on my list of ‘all time Brewers.’ #1 will always be Robin Yount, #2 will always be John Jaha, and #3 is Braun. Okay, Yount, then Molitor, then Braun. Different generations of fans might have Rollie on that list, but I think longevity with the team is important, and others might have Cecil Cooper at #3, which is hard to argue with. But Braun’s clutch gene puts him at #3 for me.
Caveat: If they NL does bring back the DH, I think they find a way to sign him for another year as a DH/outfielder/1st baseman. Rumors are that the DH won’t be sticking around, but if it does, I think Braun comes back.
