The San Diego Padres have arguably the best bullpen in baseball. But that didn’t stop general manager A.J. Preller from making it even stronger
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Padres acquired Athletics closer Mason Miller for four players on Thursday, bolstering an incredible bullpen while also adding starter J.P Sears.
Miller is 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA and 20 saves for the last-place A’s. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Wednesday the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies were in on Miller, though the Mets and Phillies each acquired relievers, Ryan Helsley and Jhoan Duran, after that was reported.
Sears is 7-9 with a 4.95 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 111 innings over 22 starts for the A’s.
San Diego is 60-49 and trails the Los Angeles Dodgers by just three games in the National League West.
To acquire Sears and Miller, San Diego parted with Nos. 1 and 3 prospects Leo De Vries and Braden Nett, as well as No. 13-ranked Henry Baez plus Eduarniel Nunez. De Vries, the No. 3 overall prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, is a shortstop, and Nett, Baez and Nunez are right-handed pitchers.
Why Do The Padres Need Mason Miller?
The Padres have a dominant bullpen, keyed by All-Stars Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez. They lead the majors in bullpen ERA (2.98) and WHIP (1.16) and are 23-16 in one-run games.
Suarez, with his 100-plus-mph fastball that sets up a devastating changeup, leads the majors in saves (30). Adam has six wins and a 1.89 ERA and is second in the majors in holds (26) in 52 appearances, and fellow high-leverage setup man Jeremiah Estrada has three saves, a 2.59 ERA and is tied for fourth in the majors in holds (22).
So the Padres don’t really need Miller, the hardest-throwing reliever in baseball whose four-seam fastball averages 101.1mph, per Statcast. His average changeup speed is 93, which is about the speed of an average big-league fastball, and he has the fastest pitch clocked this year at 104.1mph.
Still, this is a literal arms race, with San Diego fighting the Dodgers — and to a lesser extent the Mets and Phillies — to load up its bullpen. Those four, along with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, feel they can get to the World Series, and you can never have enough pitching in October.
Plus, you never know when the Dodgers — who are also desperately in need of relief pitching — could swoop in and acquire the best-available reliever. They have a penchant for loading up at the deadline.
Plus, Adam, Morejon and Estrada are tied for third in the majors in appearances (52).
Miller has just 38 games this season, and if he can take over the eighth inning, it would make life easier for Padres manager Mike Shildt in giving some of his relievers some relief.
Why Did The Athletics Trade Mason Miller?
Miller is under team control through the 2029 MLB season but will be arbitration eligible for the first time this year — which could be why the A’s were open to trading him.
Plus, the Padres sweetened the deal with De Vries, an 18-year-old infielder with a .767 OPS in Class A. Nett, a 23-year-old starter, is 5-4 with a 3.39 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings in Double-A this season.
Miller’s name had been bandied about in trade rumors, but things really heated up Wednesday night when the A’s did not use him for the ninth inning in a two-run game in their series finale against the Seattle Mariners.
Miller had not pitched since Saturday, and A’s manager Mark Kotsay got ahead of the story by simply saying “he was unavailable.”
The A’s did not announce an injury for Miller, and he sat in the bullpen with a hoodie on during the ninth inning, when Jack Perkins locked down the game despite allowing a home run to Seattle outfielder Randy Arozarena.
Padres Strengthen Bullpen by Acquiring Mason Miller In Blockbuster Trade With A’s