The Brewers lost 6 games in the standings in 8 days. Incredible.

Live look at the 4 game lead the Brewers had in the NL Central last Saturday in Boston:

Stunning. Lindsey and I were at Fenway for the first two games of that series, and let me tell you, the vibes could NOT have been better after Saturday’s win. We were sitting about 5 rows behind the Brewer dugout and the team was BUZZING. 7-1 to begin the second half, one more in Boston before likely adding a few pieces at the deadline. The energy was good, smiles everywhere, it truly felt like things were coming together.

After a loss in the final game of that series (no big deal), the deadline hit. And the Brewers, in first place by 3 games at that point, decided to trade Josh Hader, and do literally nothing else. Maybe they were in on a few things, maybe they weren’t, but it was/still is jarring that that was all they did at the deadline while sitting atop their division.

Now I know I did a fever dream/phone blog the night of the deadline, but I’d like to click refresh on my initial take:

*REFRESH TAKE*

The Dinelson Lamet thing makes ZERO sense now that they DFA-ed him. As I said in the fever dream blog, he was an intriguing piece. He finished 4th in the Cy Young voting in the pandemic season of 2020, but had battled injuries ever since. Still, maybe he was a guy who could rediscover something in a new setting. And the list is LONG of starting pitchers who lengthen their careers when they shift over to relief pitching. He felt like the perfect candidate for that given the recent injury history. But to just DFA him? And then three days later to DFA Jake McGee? Why not just DFA McGee right away at at least see what you have in Lamet. Stearns said they took Lamet to help, ‘balance the trade,’ but that also makes no real sense in a league without a salary cap. This isn’t the NBA where you have to match salaries for a deal to work. It honestly sounds like they took Lamet to do San Diego a solid and keep them out of the luxury tax, which is also infuriating because why would you be helping a fellow NL contender in any way, shape or form.

Now as we talked about, the two prospects they got are immediately top 10 in the Brewer system, so maybe down the road they will end up helping you. If both end up being impactful players on the big league club in 2-3 years, we might look back on the deal and say it was solid. But it feels like they could have gotten 2 prospects for Hader at the winter meetings, or at the deadline next season. Again, I’m merely an internet sports blogger and David Stearns is a GM/VP with a GREAT track record when it comes to personnel moves, but I’m not sure why we had to blow up the back end of the bullpen and the locker room when you’re sitting in first place.

*END OF REFRESH TAKE*

So after the deadline, they promptly blow three leads to a terrible Pirates team, lost 2 out of 3 at home to a terrible Reds team, meanwhile the Cardinals have initiated their annual Black Magic a little early and have won 7 in a row, including a sweep of the Yankees. Bingo bango, you turn a 4-game division lead into a 2-game division deficit in EIGHT DAYS. I’m not even mad, I’m impressed. This is, ‘eat a whole wheel of cheese and poop in the refrigerator,’ territory.

So we’ll see where they go from here, they’re not only 2 games back in the division, but now 1.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot.

And while the Hader trade will become a schism point for a lot of fans, I thought this tweet was important to throw out there:

And that 25-29 stretch obviously includes the 7-1 start to the second half. So while a ton of people are going to say the Hader trade started the downfall, this team has been a sub-.500 team for a decent stretch now. I don’t think the Hader trade helped, but they have been leaking oil for longer than a week.

Now, let’s end on a positive note, shall we? You got Freddy Peralta back, and Eric Lauer has been back to himself as well. Even with the recent issues, I still take this starting rotation against ANY starting rotation in baseball. Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Astros, whatever, that Burnes/Woodruff/Peralta/Lauer combo will keep you in literally any regular season or postseason game. The question now is can the offense find any kind of consistency, and can the bullpen stitch it together with a few new players and a new closer in Devin Williams.

Between the trade, the injuries, and the losses to bad teams, last week was about as bad as it gets. But there’s still a third of the season left. Yes they have to deal with the Dodgers 7 times, a 6-game homestand against the Yankees and Mets back to back, etc., but they also have 8 games remaining against the Cardinals. And a 9-game homestand to end the season. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! And if all else fails the Packers play on Friday! U-S-A! U-S-A!

PS: He’s not hitting with home run power anymore, but Yelich has inarguably been one of the best hitters in baseball since he moved to the leadoff spot: