Well, it's not like he sold his soul to the steeplechase devil and can never run another 5k. We seem to be in an era where the specialist runner is going by the wayside and today's runner is good at (and competes in) a variety of distances.
I predict Jager back in the 5k in the future, but if he is having success in the steeple (say sub 8:05), why not stick with it since he'd be a medal threat?
For now he made the team in the steeple which is surely better for him financially than missing in the 5k. He will have better support for training having "Olympian" on his resume, and hopefully will hold up for some great future seasons.
With the competitiveness in the 1500 and 5000, it was only a matter of time before some people starting heading for the steeple since it has been relatively weaker. We only need a few more Jager type guys to mature into his level before the steeple is also stacked and there is nowhere to hide in the 3k to 10k range of distances.
The fact that someone like Torrance ran a solid 5k and opted not to run it at the trials is a testament to how good our 5k corps is now. It basically takes 13:00 talent to make our team now (and that is with Solinsky on the sidelines and Ritz/Teg in the 10k).