Josh Hader arrives at Citi Field on Friday not just as the closer for the suddenly red-hot Astros, but also as a reminder of the dangers of the trade deadline.
The Mets, by virtue of their stunning reversal over the past few weeks, have gone from likely deadline sellers to perhaps buyers, just 1 ¹/₂ games out of a wild-card spot.
Another option, as The Post’s Mike Puma noted recently, is doing both, potentially moving some starting pitchers with the possible return of Kodai Senga next month, as well as Christian Scott and Jose Butto pitching well at Triple-A.
Senga was scheduled to face minor league hitters in live batting practice at Citi Field on Thursday, with a possible rehab assignment soon to follow.
That leaves new president of baseball operations David Stearns with plenty of important decisions to make — not just for 2024, but for down the road, as well.
The last time he was in charge of a trade deadline was his final season running the show in Milwaukee in 2022.
That year, Stearns famously traded his star closer, Hader, to the Padres in exchange for four prospects.
The move was not popular with the team, and the Brewers, atop the NL Central at the time, ended up missing the postseason — while Hader helped San Diego get to the NLCS.
Two players on that Brewers team are now in Queens and remember the trade well.
“That trade was tough for us,” Adrian Houser said of the deadline transaction. “Hader was such a big part of that team and a big part of that clubhouse. Everybody loved him and no one wanted him to go, especially with us in first place. It kind of turned us up a little bit. But that’s the business side of baseball.”
Tyrone Taylor said the move stung the team, particularly at first.
“As much as it bothered us in the clubhouse when Hader got moved that day, we all understood it was part of the job,’’ Taylor said. “We had a team meeting, literally that day, and reminded ourselves, ‘This is what we have in the clubhouse,’ and to go get it.”
It didn’t work out well.
The Brewers immediately lost five of their next six games and fell out of first place, never to return.
But Taylor, who arrived to the Mets in a December trade from the Brewers, along with Houser, in exchange for minor league pitcher Coleman Crow, said the impact of the Hader trade was overblown.
“We know the outside perspective was that it deflated us, but I felt it wasn’t as terrible as people made it seem,’’ Taylor said. “[Stearns] does a great job, and I feel going through that [experience], he probably learned something, so we’ll see what happens.”
“It will definitely be interesting,’’ Houser said of the this season’s deadline. “There are a lot of moving parts to [those decisions]. If we’re right there in the hunt, I expect him to add to help the team win. But you never know because there are long-term and short-term goals.”
Those long-term goals didn’t make the Hader trade any easier for Houser.
“We didn’t get it because we thought we were going to the playoffs, and we wanted to stick with what we got and maybe add to help us win and keep going,” Houser said. “But they got a good return that just hasn’t worked out.”
To Houser’s point, perhaps Milwaukee’s biggest return for the Hader trade was left-hander Robert Gasser, who showed tremendous promise this year as a rookie but had to undergo Tommy John surgery after just five starts in the majors.
Now, Stearns is in the early stages of attempting to build a consistent contender at Citi Field.
“This is a little different, being his first year here and really wanting to set up the organization to go on continuous postseason runs,’’ Houser said. “It will definitely be interesting. It’s all up in the air now because [the deadline] is still a month away. I’m sure it will be a roller coaster for him.”
