Brewers' Lauer: Hader trade 'didn't send us the right message'

Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Eric Lauer is still trying to wrap his head around the blockbuster deal that saw All-Star closer Josh Hader head to the San Diego Padres.

"There was a shock factor to it," Lauer said Sunday, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. "Everybody was taken aback by it a little bit. As far as who we have in the clubhouse and what we have here, I don't think we're in any worse position to win as many games as we should. The only thing I can think of was, from the top down, it seemed like there was a weird behind-the-scenes message that was sent that a lot of people didn't jive with.

"It didn't send us the right message from the upstairs people trying to say, like, 'We're doing this and we're trying to put you guys in the best position and we're trying to win right now with you guys.' It seemed more of a, 'We're trying to develop for the future.'"

The Brewers have gone 7-11 since they traded Hader for reliever Taylor Rogers, outfielder Esteury Ruiz, pitching prospect Robert Gasser, and right-hander Dinelson Lamet. Lamet was subsequently designated for assignment and picked up off waivers by the Colorado Rockies.

Milwaukee now sits five games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Central lead and 1 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot.

The Padres are one of the teams the Brewers are chasing in the wild-card standings. San Diego has gone 8-10 since the deadline, while Hader has already lost his closing job after posting a jaw-dropping 16.20 ERA in his first five appearances with his new club.