MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers avoided going to arbitration with pitchers Josh Hader and Brandon Woodruff by agreeing to one-year contracts with the former All-Stars.
Hader signed for $6,675,000 while Woodruff agreed to a $3,275,000 deal. The Brewers don’t have any arbitration cases.
Last year, Hader lost an arbitration case that resulted in a $4.1 million salary, which was pro-rated to $1,518,519 in the pandemic shortened the season. Hader said after his arbitration case last year that he believed the system is outdated and doesn’t account for the fact that high-leverage relievers now occasionally pitch earlier in games.
Hader, who turns 27 on April 7, has been one of the game’s top relievers over the last few seasons and made the NL All-Star team in 2018 and 2019.
The left-hander was 1-2 with a career-high 3.79 ERA in 21 games last year, but six of the eight runs he allowed came in just two appearances. He had an NL-leading 13 saves while striking out 31 and allowing just eight hits in 13 innings.
In his four-year career, Hader has a 2.54 ERA with 62 saves and 380 strikeouts in just 223 2/3 innings.
Woodruff, who turns 28 on Feb. 10, went 3-5 with a 3.05 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings last season. The right-hander tied for the NL lead in starts and ranked fourth in the NL in innings pitched.
Woodruff had a 2020 salary of $633,100 that was pro-rated to $234,481 due to the shortened season.
That came after a 2019 season in which he made the NL All-Star team but missed nearly two months with a left oblique strain. Woodruff went 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 22 starts that season.
