The Brewers have had one of the more puzzling seasons in Major League Baseball.

At the 2022 trade deadline, while sitting in first place in the NL Central, Milwaukee decided to deal away star pitcher Josh Hader – arguably their best player – to the Padres for a pair of prospects and reliever Taylor Rogers, a surprising move for a team many thought to be a contender.

Since then, the Brewers have struggled, falling to second in the division and five games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Apparently, not everyone on the team has been thrilled with the direction the front office chose.

“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,'” Brewers pitcher Eric Lauer told MLB.com. “It seemed more of a, ‘We’re trying to develop for the future.'”

In the trade, Milwaukee received outfield prospect Estuary Ruiz, currently in Triple-A, and Robert Gasser, in Double-A. They also received pitcher Dinelson Lamet, but ended up designating him for assignment before he ever suited up.

Rogers has been a reliable reliever (except for one blow-up against the Cardinals) since the trade, and it’s worth noting that Hader has struggled since joining San Diego, having recently lost the closer job. Still, Lauer is clearly unhappy with the front office and GM David Stearns, who infamously said that the best way to win the World Series is to get as many “bites of the apple” as possible – or, make the playoffs as many times as possible – after the trade.

“I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the way they described it to the public,” Lauer said. “I’m not trying to just get a bunch of bites of the apple. Especially if things are going the way they are, the way the Brewers have historically traded [before] paying guys. I don’t know how many bites of the apple we can take in the next few years. We’re not going to be able to afford a lot of guys in this room.”

The Brewers have often been criticized for not spending to retain their top players, though they have often found success despite being a small-market team. Stearns, a New York native, has long been a rumored front office target for the Mets due to that success.

Still, it appears not everyone in Milwaukee is on board with the team-building strategy.

As of Tuesday, Milwaukee was 1 1/2 games back from the second wild-card spot, with the Phillies and Padres tied for that position.