Padres Considered Trading Leo De Vries for Steven Kwan Before Mason Miller Move

Steven Kwan, San Diego Padre?

AJ Preller considered it, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. In addition to the Athletics, Preller was also discussing shortstop prospect Leo De Vries with the Cleveland Guardians leading up to the MLB trade deadline last week.

The Padres' president of baseball operations ultimately included De Vries in package along with pitching prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez that brought Athletics pitchers Mason Miller and JP Sears to San Diego.

Kwan would have filled the vacancy in left field that ultimately was filled by Ramon Laureano. The Padres addressed that need in a separate trade with the Baltimore Orioles, acquiring Laureano along with first baseman/outfielder/DH Ryan O'Hearn in exchange for six prospects.

It's unclear whether Preller was considering acquiring players other than Kwan in their talks around De Vries. It is perhaps worth noting that the Guardians, like the A's, also have a deep bullpen.

Closer Emmanuel Clase's future in baseball is in doubt while MLB investigates his possible connection to suspicious gambling activity. But right-handers Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis have put up eye-popping numbers in high-leverage relief roles for Cleveland, which held a .500 record going into the July 31 deadline.

It's fun to dream on the possibility of a Padres roster with Kwan rather than Miller and Laureano. But multiple analysts believe Preller "won" the trade deadline.

"I know he was working the phones to try and get (Dylan) Cease and (Robert) Suarez out of there, but I think it's the deals you don't make that'll come back to benefit you most," MLB Network's Mark DeRosa said. "Because, you put on paper, you got Mason Miller, you got Suarez, you got Jason Adam, you got Morejon down there, that game got aggressively shorter with just ridiculous stuff. I think when you net it all out, (Preller) did the most for his club."