Josh Hader’s time with Milwaukee has come to an end.

The Brewers announced Monday afternoon they had traded the 3-time NL Reliever of the Year to San Diego for four players — closer Taylor Rogers, outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz, pitcher Dinelson Lamet and pitching prospect Robert Gasser.

“While today was a difficult decision, and these decisions are not easy to trade good players on a good team, we believe it’s the right decision for the organization to give us the best chance to remain competitive for as long as possible, and ultimately win a World Series,” President of Baseball Operations David Stearns said.

The 31-year-old Rogers was in his first season with the Padres after six years in Minnesota. He had just been removed as the team’s closer after blowing a pair of saves last week. For the season, the lefty has 28 saves and a 4.35 ERA.

Ruiz and Gasser were both top-30 prospects in San Diego’s system but are in the top-10 of Milwaukee’s. Stearns said Ruiz, who is ranked as the ninth-best prospect, will start in Triple-A but could make an appearance in the majors this year. Gasser is the eighth-ranked prospect and Stearns is extremely high on the lefty.

Stearns said Ruiz, who is ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the club’s farm system, will start in Triple-A but could make an appearance in the majors this year. Gasser is the eighth-ranked prospect and Burns is extremely high on the lefty.

“In our opinion, quietly one of the better pitching prospects in baseball right now,” Stearns said. “He was one of the targets of ours out of Houston in the draft. The Padres did a great job selecting him and have done a great job with his development for the first year or so of his professional career. We’re really excited to get him into our organization.”

Lamet has struggled this season, with the 30-year-old reliever currently sporting a 9.49 ERA in 13 appearances.

Hader’s departure comes after one of the most celebrated careers for a reliever in Brewers history. He racked up 125 saves with a 2.48 ERA while going to four All-Star games since coming into the big leagues in 2017. The 28-year-old set a franchise record earlier this season for consecutive innings without allowing a run, going nearly a full calendar year without giving up one.

“Josh has performed at an elite level here for a long time. He has contributed to some of the biggest moments in Brewers history and that’s how he’s going to be remembered here and deservingly so,” Stearns said. “Whenever you have a player of that stature, who has performed at that level, saying goodbye to that player is really tough. And it’s especially difficult to do in season. But we felt this was the right time.”

Hader is the middle of the worst stretch of his career, giving up 13 runs in his last 10 appearances. Stearns was asked if that played a role in the move.

“I don’t read too much into Josh’s performance in July,” Stearns said. “Players are allowed to have hiccups, players are allowed to occasionally struggle. Josh has performed at such a high level that I don’t read too much into that.”

Making things more difficult for Stearns and the club is Hader’s future. He’s nearing the end of his arbitration process and is likely to make around $16 million next season before becoming a free agent. With money needed in coming years to re-sign key players, namely pitcher Corbin Burnes, Stearns acknowledged the rising cost of a player like Hader is a challenge.

“As players go through arbitration, and especially really good players go through arbitration, they’re going to get more expensive” Stearns said. “We have to look to see how that fits into the overall roster construction puzzle that we go through every offseason. So naturally, as as they go through arbitration, that’s going to play a part in how we construct our roster.”

The presence of Devin Williams somewhat eases the pain of having to make the move. An NL Reliever of the Year himself, Williams has gone 30 straight appearances without allowing a run and just earned his first All-Star nod.

“I think Devin’s performance, his ascension, to now be one of the best relievers in baseball, certainly gives us confidence that we have a very stabilizing force in our bullpen,” Stearns said.

Williams, Brad Boxberger and Rogers figure to be in the mix as Milwaukee’s closer moving forward.

More pitching help

Milwaukee added another arm late Monday night by trading for Texas’ Matt Bush. The 36-year-old is 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA this season. The Brewers sent infielder Mark Mathias and pitcher Antoine Kelly back to the Rangers.