Mason Miller's Role with the San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres were making plenty of moves on Thursday, and their biggest--heck the biggest of the entire deadline--was to acquire Mason Miller and JP Sears from the A's in exchange for the No. 3 prospect in MLB, and three right-handers that provide the Athletics with more pitching depth moving forward.

It's a pretty steep price to pay for any player, especially a closer, but Miller won't reach free agency until the end of the 2029 campaign, though he'll be entering the first of four arbitration years in 2026. Sears will be a free agent after the 2028 campaign, and is set to embark upon the first of three arb years next year as well.

When we spoke to Miller on Wednesday, he said that his understanding of his situation was that the front office would have to be 'wowed' in order to move him. A's GM David Forst confirmed that the team was in fact wowed.

While adding Miller is a huge boost to any club, the Padres also sent three relief pitchers (Jason Adam, Robert Suarez and Adrian Morejon) to the All Star game earlier this month. The Padres already had the best bullpen in baseball, sitting with a 2.97 ERA, and they just got better.

Trading for Miller was a luxury, not a necessity, and while the Padres will be a dangerous club heading into the postseason, they've chosen an odd path for their new flamethrowing bullpen arm.

According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the Padres are expected to keep Robert Suarez as their primary closer, with Mason Miller joining the league’s deepest group of setup men. Suarez, 34, has been the better pitcher this season, holding a 3.43 ERA (2.51 FIP), but Miller is hanging close behind him with a 3.76 ERA and a 2.86 FIP. He can also touch 104, which is a very uncommon skill.

This is the initial plan at least. It could be that they want to get Miller and Sears in San Diego and have them meet their teammates before they begin heaping expectations on them. They're going from the A's, a team that hasn't been in contention during their tenures with the club, straight into a dog fight in the NL West with the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

There's also a 75% chance that Miller and Sears make it to the postseason for the first time, which will bring a new level of unfamiliar expectations. Holding off on making Miller the closer immediately may be a wise move, with so many life adjustments to be made.

Back in 2014 when the A's traded their top prospect, Addison Russell (No. 12 in MLB), to the Chicago Cubs, they got back Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Samardzija was terrific for the A's, holding a 3.14 ERA across 16 starts, but Hammel, who had a 2.98 ERA before the deal, struggled a bit when he landed in Oakland.

He said that the adjustment from getting traded--the life stuff like finding a place to live--threw him off for a bit. He had a 9.53 ERA across his first four starts in green and gold before settling in with the team. He held a 2.51 ERA over his final nine outings (eight starts).

If this was part of the Padres rationale, it's a solid move by the club to give their big addition a little time before handing him the responsibility of closing out these big-time games. It's easier to insert him into the role than it would be to remove him from it.

Quick side note on the San Diego Padres roster following the MLB Trade Deadline. With the additions of Miller, Sears, and Ramón Laureano on Thursday, the Padres are assembling their own version of the 2023 Oakland Athletics.

Also on the club is Tyler Wade, who spent a little time with the A's in '23. San Diego also DFA'd Trenton Brooks after their flurry of moves, and he was in the A's system that same year before getting traded to the San Francisco Giants for Sean Newcomb.