MLB rumors: Dodgers, Yankees, Rangers linked to Josh Hader, with a massive caveat

Is Josh Hader about to outdo Edwin Diaz in free agency?

On the MLB free-agency landscape, Josh Hader still looms as the best option in the relief-pitcher category. And while the fireballer has drawn interest from the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers, Hader won’t come cheaply.

In fact, Hader wants to make sure no other relief pitcher in baseball is compensated better. As a result, he is aiming for a contract richer than the one the New York Mets inked Edwin Diaz to last season, a five-year, $102 million deal, according to CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden.

One problem with that comp is that Diaz just missed the entire 2023 season. While the reliever was hurt celebrating a win in the World Baseball Classic with his teammates from Puerto Rico and not pitching, it’s a reminder that relief pitchers are often volatile commodities.

Josh Hader an outlier? 

Hader would need to remain elite for several seasons to justify such a contract, a feat not many pitchers coming out of the bullpen have been able to pull off in baseball history.