Josh Hader

Major League Baseball announced today that it will require Brewers pitcher Josh Hader to undergo sensitivity training and to participate in the league’s “diversity and inclusion initiatives.” The determination came down quickly, after it emerged last night — in the midst of the All-Star Game — that Hader had sent a variety of offensive tweets before he became a professional baseball player.

Per the league announcement, it was determined that Hader “took the necessary step of expressing remorse for his highly offensive and hurtful language.” Indeed, the now-24-year-old called his own prior statements “inexcusable,” apologizing for what he framed as a youthful mistake — he called himself “young, immature and stupid” — that does not “reflect any of my beliefs going on now.”

Those interested in reading up on the situation can find a worthwhile summation from Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, who documents the tweets and Hader’s response. Needless to say, Hader’s words were deeply offensive. It is encouraging that he acknowledged as much, though clearly he has much work to do to make amends.

Hader stated last night that he is “ready for any consequences” that may come. The league evidently will not impose punishment, per se. Nor, perhaps, would that have been appropriate. While many suggested last night that a suspension may have been warranted, that’s a difficult proposition given that the tweets were sent before Hader was even drafted.

A statement from Brewers GM David Stearns (on Twitter) suggests that the team expects Hader to continue “taking full responsibility for the consequences of his actions.” It’s unclear just what precise expectations the club will set, but it does not sound as if any specific disciplinary action is planned. Stearns says the Brewers “will continue to work through this issue with Josh as we prepare to resume games after the [All-Star] break.”

That said, there’ll surely be broader consequences for Hader, who is in his first full season in the majors. Hopefully, he’ll proactively address this matter and seek ways to turn his prior missteps into an opportunity to grow and make a positive contribution.

As of now, right-handers Chase Anderson, Zach Davies and Jhoulys Chacin are the only locks for Milwaukee’s 2018 rotation, manager Craig Counsell suggested to reporters, including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, on Sunday (Twitter link). Barring further moves, Brandon Woodruff, Brent Suter, Yovani Gallardo, Junior Guerra and Aaron Wilkerson are in line to compete for the final two sports, according to Counsell.

Conspicuously absent from that group is left-hander Josh Hader, a former starter prospect who entered the offseason with his future role in question after he dominated out of the Brewers’ bullpen as a rookie in 2017. General manager David Stearns announced Sunday that the soon-to-be 24-year-old Hader will remain a reliever to begin 2018, meaning he won’t factor into their starting competition (via McCalvy, on Twitter)

While Hader won’t be among the Brewers’ season-opening rotation possibilities, the mix seems likely to feature at least one more newcomer besides Chacin and Gallardo. Owner Mark Attanasio confirmed that’s Milwaukee’s interested in adding starting help, saying, “You can never have enough pitching and David (Stearns) is working on it.” While they’re reportedly unlikely to sign either Yu Darvish or Alex Cobb, Attanasio stated that the Brewers do have the payroll space to pick up a high-end free agent starter (Twitter links via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

After reeling in outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich this week, the Brewers’ commitments for 2018 come in around $92MM – a significant bump over their $63MM-plus Opening Day payrolls from 2016-17. Since 2005, Attanasio’s first season as Milwaukee’s owner, the team has twice exceeded the $100MM Opening Day payroll mark. They’d figure to blow past that figure by signing any of Darvish, Cobb, Jake Arrieta or Lance Lynn.

Beyond the four best available hurlers, free agency is lacking impact starters, which could point the Brewers toward a trade if they don’t sign one of the top names. They’ve shown reported interest this offseason in Chris Archer (Rays), Patrick Corbin (Diamondbacks) and Danny Salazar (Indians), though it’s unclear how willing any of those teams are to move those starters. There’s plenty of speculation the Brewers will try to parlay their outfield logjam into rotation help by dealing Domingo Santana, Keon Broxton and/or Brett Phillips, but it’s an open question whether any of those three would help the club land a coveted front-end starter in return.

With 2017 ace Jimmy Nelson recovering from a serious procedure (surgery on a partially torn right labrum) and unlikely to return until the summertime, it’s fair to say the Brewers could use another proven option for their rotation. Although Milwaukee’s starters finished eighth in the majors in fWAR (13.3) and 10th in ERA (4.10) during its near-playoff season in 2017, Nelson’s work over 175 1/3 innings (4.9 fWAR, 3.49 ERA) significantly contributed to those rankings. It’s now anyone’s guess what he’ll provide in 2018, which could help lead to the Brewers making a splash on the pitching market.