I think general consensus is that the Brewers didn't get a commensurate return. But people always look at it in a vacuum. No one is gonna look back at this trade when the Brewers can sign a stud away from his college commitment during the draft.
Even this Hader retrospective has the Padres "easily winning the trade".
https://www.si.com/mlb/padres/news/a-lookback-the-padres-easily-won-the-josh-hader-trade-rks97
Yeah I mean if you only look at the players acquired it looks bad. But dig a little deeper:
- The Brewers still have Gasser who may sneak into the rotation this year
- The Brewers traded Ruiz and got William Contreras and Joel Payamps
A back-end starter, very solid bullpen guy, and controllable all-star catcher seems like a decent return for a closer with one year left until free agency.