MLB trade deadline: Padres add Athletics All-Star closer Mason Miller to one of MLB's best bullpens
The San Diego Padres are turning a position of strength into a position of dominance.Despite already having three All-Star relievers and a bullpen that easily leads MLB with a 2.97 ERA, the Padres swung a blockbuster deal for Athletics closer Mason Miller on Thursday ahead of the MLB trade deadline, the team announced on Thursday. ESPN's Jeff Passan was the first to report the deal.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementStarter J.P. Sears is also heading to the Padres. San Diego paid a steep price to acquire Miller and Sears, giving up shortstop Leodalis De Vries, who entered the 2025 season as a consensus top-20 prospect in the game. The Athletics are also receiving pitchers Braden Nett, Henry Báez and Eduarniel Nuñez in the deal.[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]De Vries, 18, is hitting .245/.357/.410 in 368 plate appearances in the minors this season. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 3 prospect in baseball, likely to be No. 2 once Cincinnati Reds starter Chase Burns graduates.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementMiller is under team control through the 2029 season, making this much more than just a rental.Rumors of a trade intensified Wednesday night, when Miller did not pitch the ninth inning of a one-run victory for the A's. Following the 5-4 win, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said Miller was unavailable to pitch, and it wasn't due to an injury. Now fans know why.Few relievers are as feared as Miller, who throws the hardest of any pitcher in MLB with a fastball averaging 101.1 mph and has topped out at 104.1 mph. Since making his MLB debut in 2023, he has blown hitter after hitter away with that heat and his wipeout slider, against which batters are slugging .111 this season.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementMiller hasn't been completely dominant this season, as evidenced by his 3.76 ERA, but he has stuff you can't teach.The Padres are making a big move with Mason Miller, and so are the A'sThe Padres' bullpen is headlined by closer Robert Suárez and setup men Jason Adam and Adrián Morejón, all three of whom were named to the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. It was the first time a team had ever sent three relievers to the All-Star Game, and now San Diego is adding a guy with better raw stuff than any of them.It's unclear what role Miller will fill in San Diego. When it comes to deciding a closer, he is certainly the biggest name of the newly formed quartet, but incumbency and surface-level numbers are mostly on Suárez's side. Regardless, it's a good problem for the Padres to have.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementThat "problem" could also be solved if the Padres decide to trade Suárez. Despite the team's success, it has been rumored that Suárez could be available at the deadline. The Miller trade makes it easier for the Padres to part with him, though the team could also opt to deploy a super bullpen the rest of the way.Trading Miller is a significant sign for the A's, given his age and four years of team control left after this season. The team has been navigating a delicate situation all year, trying to stay respectable enough while they play in a minor-league ballpark and build with an eye toward a future in Las Vegas, where they are theoretically lined up to debut in 2028 (assuming no hiccups with the funding and construction of their new stadium).To trade Miller, the kind of reliever who draws eyes and social media followers every time he takes the mound, is an odd move for a team that really wants to be competitive as it's settling into its new home. The counterargument is that De Vries could help that effort even more than an elite reliever, but it's a big bet. Which is apt, given the team's destination.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementWhat to make of this shocking trade for A's and Padres?Holy lord, the San Diego Padres have done it again, swinging a blockbuster trade that nobody saw coming.This time, they’ve acquired one of the game’s top closers in Mason Miller and a controllable, capable depth starter in J.P Sears. All it took was a massive prospect package headlined by übertalented shortstop Leodalis De Vries.For the Padres and their wheelin’-dealin’ wild man of a general manager, AJ Preller, it’s business as usual. Preller operates with pure, unadulterated aggression. Adding Miller and Sears might also be a precursor to more deals, with San Diego reliever Robert Suarez and starting pitcher Dylan Cease potentially on the block. With that in mind, it’s hard to give the Padres a full grade here before the deadline is over. But the thing I like about this move from San Diego’s perspective is that both of the players they acquired come with a lot of control. Miller, almost 27, is under contract through the end of 2029. Sears is through 2028.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementUnsurprisingly, the man who parted with a prospect cornucopia to get Juan Soto was not skittish about paying a big price in the here and now to improve his team. But man, what a price. De Vries has a chance to be a perennial All-Star, a dynamic, switch-hitting infielder with panache who could become the centerpiece of the Athletics whenever they get to Las Vegas. Most outlets have him ranked somewhere in the Top 15 of prospect lists, with a handful having him in the top five. He's still only 18, so there’s a ton of risk here; prospects are volatile creatures. But De Vries is a baller, and if it all goes right, he’ll end up somewhere on the Francisco Lindor to Ketel Marte spectrum, depending on how much power and size he develops.In all, I adore this move for the Athletics. Prospects are unpredictable, yes, but so are relievers. Getting a potentially franchise-changing piece such as De Vries for a bullpen arm is something of a no-brainer for a rebuilding club. — Mintz
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