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San Diego Padres Reportedly Pursuing A's Mason Miller
May 24, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Diego Padres hats in the dugout during the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images Brad Mills-Imagn Images

Mason Miller's name has been brought up in numerous trade rumors on Wednesday, and while the Phillies and Mets have addressed their own relief woes, the San Diego Padres are now reportedly in pursuit of the A's closer.

Dennis Lin of The Athletic mentioned that to land Miller and other targets Steven Kwan and Jarren Duran, the Padres may have to part with top prospects in shortstop Leo De Vries or catcher Ethan Salas.

While Miller would certainly warrant a prospect of that nature, given that he has four more years of team control and was an All Star in 2024, the A's are more likely to be after high-end pitching talent, according to Ken Rosenthal.

The piece also mentions that Miller appeals to the Padres because they feel he could be stretched out to be a starter for next season, if not before then.

We talked to Miller before Wednesday's game, and he said that he wouldn't be able to just flip that switch midseason. He also mentioned that he's not super motivated to return to starting, since the financial incentive for him right now is in relief work. "It doesn't really make sense to make that switch unless there's some sort of guarantees"

If those guarantees involved a contract extension, that wouldn't necessarily help the Padres financial flexibility, which would be another reason for them to trade for an arbitration eligible player of Miller's caliber.

Given that the A's would be after pitching help if they were to move Miller, and that the Padres don't have a ton of high-level arms that are also in the upper minors among their top prospects, it doesn't appear as though San Diego would make the best trade partner, unless a third team got involved. That way, the Padres would get Miller, the third team would be Salas or De Vries, and the Athletics would get the pitching they're after.

Miller also mentioned that as far as he's been told from the A's front office, they aren't inclined to move him "unless they're blown away." The MLB Trade Deadline is just under 24 hours away, on Thursday at 3 p.m. (PT), but there is still plenty of time for the chess pieces around baseball to be moved around and set up a different board than is currently available.

But as of right now, it doesn't appear as though any team that has been connected to Miller (and hasn't addressed their pitching needs already) has the type of arms the A's are after. If he ends up being moved, teams may have to get creative.


This article first appeared on Oakland Athletics on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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