All-Star Mason Miller Benched Wednesday As Surprising Trade Partner Emerges
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Athletics closer Mason Miller was not available Wednesday for the ninth inning of the team's 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners in Sacramento.
Miller was not hurt, A's manager Mark Kotsay told reporters after the game.
More news: Diamondbacks Trade All-Star to Mariners in Deadline Blockbuster: Reports
"Mason was unavailable tonight," he said. "That's all I can say."
'Mason was unavailable tonight. That's all I can say.' - Mark Kotsay — Jason Burke (@ByJasonB) July 31, 2025
Jon Heyman of the New York Post clued readers in to the obvious context in a post to his Twitter/X account late Wednesday on the West Coast: The A's are discussing a trade that would send Miller to a contending team in advance of the 6 p.m. (ET) Thursday trade deadline.
More news: Cubs Make Trade, Acquire All-Star From Orioles: Reports
Miller's suitor is a surprise. Despite sending three relief pitchers (closer Robert Suarez and set-up men Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon) to the National League All-Star team earlier this month, the San Diego Padres are "working on a possible trade" for Miller, according to Heyman.
Padres already have the best bullpen in baseball — 3 All-Stars! Again, just talks so far. https://t.co/kBKaZQ3WeV — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2025
Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported earlier Wednesday that the Padres are "pushing for" Miller, the hardest-throwing closer in MLB. They also reported the Padres are simultaneously pursuing outfielders Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox and Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians in trade talks.
Austin Wynns #29 and Mason Miller #19 of the Athletics hug after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 at Sutter Health Park on July 13, 2025 in Sacramento.
Austin Wynns #29 and Mason Miller #19 of the Athletics hug after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 at Sutter Health Park on July 13, 2025 in Sacramento.
Justine Willard/Athletics/Getty Images
But the sudden unavailability of Miller, who's saved 20 games this season as the A's have fallen out of playoff contention, suggests the Padres' proposal for Miller has legs.
More news: Former Cy Young Winner Suddenly Available at MLB Trade Deadline: Report
Miller's 101.1-mph fastball and hard-biting slider have yielded an elite 39.1 strikeout rate. That's markedly better even than that of Suarez, who has a 3.43 ERA and 26.6 percent strikeout rate in his final season before he's eligible for free agency.
Given the Padres' bullpen depth, it is easy to imagine the Padres' pursuit of Miller would create a redundancy that would allow general manager A.J. Preller to trade Suarez, Adam or perhaps the left-hander Morejon in hopes of upgrading one of the Padres' other positions of need.
More news: Mets Make Trade, Acquire Veteran Pitcher From Giants
The Padres do not have a deep farm system. Rosenthal and Lin speculated "the Padres' ability to land Duran, Kwan or Miller could hinge on their willingness to surrender (Leo) De Vries," — a 19-year-old shortstop prospect who is universally ranked among the Top 20 in MLB.
If he's unwilling to move De Vries, Preller might need to involve another team to land a left fielder such as Kwan or Duran, in addition to a catcher who offers a stronger bat than incumbents Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado.
For now, the Padres' pursuit of Miller seems to be on the front burner. If a deal is completed, expect more dominoes to fall in San Diego.
The Padres are off Thursday after winning their fifth consecutive game Wednesday at home against the New York Mets.
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The bullpen, anchored by All-Star Edwin Diaz, is so deep that setup man Ryne Stanek told reporters in the Mets clubhouse: 'I might be pitching the fourth inning." Well, he may be right, with Mets baseball operations chief David Stearns going all in, doing everything possible to get the Mets' their first title since 1986, trading away their 8th, 10th, 12th and 14th prospects. They also acquired veteran center fielder Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles, which gives them a true center fielder, allowing the Mets to move Jeff McNeil around the diamond. 'Our responsibility here is to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs," said David Stearns, Mets president of baseball operations, 'and ultimately win a World Series every single year. … So I don't view this period of Mets' competitiveness in a defined window. I view it as the beginning of what should be a very long and sustained period of competitiveness at the highest level." Seattle Mariners Finally, the Mariners acted with urgency. Finally, they got much-needed power bats. Finally, they acted like a team ready to not only make the playoffs, but reach their first World Series in franchise history. All it took was swallowing their pride, trading for the power hitter they gave up two years ago, and now they have the most powerful 1-2 power combination in baseball with catcher Cal Raleigh (41 homers) and new third baseman Eugenio Suarez (36 homers). The cost was relatively cheap getting back Suarez too, trading away their ninth-best prospect in first baseman Tyler Lockear, 16th-best prospect in Hunter Cranton and 17th-best prospect in Juan Burgos. The Mariners also acquired Pirates reliever Caleb Ferguson. New York Yankees The Yankees, who have had the second-worst bullpen since July 1 (6.29 ERA), completely overhauled their relievers. They landed one of the premier closers in the game in Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar, acquired San Francisco Giants closer Camilo Doval, and right-handed reliever Jake Bird from the Colorado Rockies. They badly needed a third baseman, and grabbed defensive whiz Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies. They wanted another shortstop, and took Jose Caballero from the Tampa Bay Rays. They wanted depth, and acquired outfielder Austin Slater from the Chicago White Sox. Their only flaw was not getting another starter. Cincinnati Reds The Reds are on the outside looking in, three games out of the final wild-card berth and a 16.8% chance of reaching the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Yet, here they are, acting like they're fine-tuning the Big Red Machine. They were in on Eugenio Suarez, but pivoted, deciding they would rather have four years of elite defense with Ke'Bryan Hayes than two months of power hitting. They grabbed Tampa Bay Rays starter Zack Littell. And they acquired outfielder Miguel Anduijar from the A's. Is it a longshot the Reds make the postseason? Yes. Is it at least possible? Indeed. MLB trade deadline losers Minnesota Twins Has there ever been a worse day in Twins' franchise history? Anyone? It was a nightmare beyond belief. The Twins, with sudden orders from ownership to slash payroll, conducted the biggest firesale in a single day in baseball history. They unloaded 10 players from their 26-man roster, shedding nearly $100 million in payroll. It was so ugly they even paid the Houston Astros $33 million to take Carlos Correa and the remaining $103 million off their hands. It was ugly. It was embarrassing. And for all of those fans who paid for season tickets, they will now be relegated to watching a minor league perform the final two months. Their only hope now is that the Twins can be sold as quickly as possible to erase the memory of the darkest day since they moved to Minneapolis. San Francisco Giants Remember when the Giants were taking baseball by storm, stealing Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox and shouting to the world that this was only the beginning, and they were ready to take on the mighty Dodgers? Well, a funny thing happened along the way. They have since posted the worst record in baseball since the trade, just went an entire six-game homestand without winning a single game for the first time in 129 years, and then officially raised the white flag at the deadline. They traded away setup man Tyler Rogers and let everyone know they were conducting a semi-firesale, and followed it by dumping closer Camilo Doval and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski. The biggest question now is what the Giants do this winter, and whether they will enter the 2026 season with a new manager, new coaches, or a brand new team. Boston Red Sox Hey, weren't the Red Sox supposed to do something? They promised. They were going to make this team a legitimate contender. Instead, the trade deadline came and went, and all they did was acquire struggling Dodgers starter Dustin May and swingman Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals. It wasn't nearly enough. 'We pursued a number of really impact opportunities,'' said Craig Breslow, chief baseball officer. 'Obviously, not all of them work out, but it wasn't from a lack of trying to be as aggressive as possible or from an unwillingness to get uncomfortable." The only thing uncomfortable now is Red Sox Nation squirming in their seats wondering how they can still hang with the Blue Jays and Yankees in the AL East. Milwaukee Brewers We should never question the Brewers considering how they are ridiculed for their lack of activity every winter, and still win the NL Central virtually every year. Still, the team with the best record in baseball did absolutely nothing but pick up injured Diamondbacks closer Shelby Miller. Who knows, maybe the Brewers will get the last laugh again. Or maybe, they'll be tormented all winter knowing they passed up a golden opportunity. Chicago White Sox They could have traded center fielder Luis Robert Jr. during the winter, but passed, believing his value would rise during the season. Instead, it was another injury-prone, underachieving season. He's hitting .211 with 11 homers, 43 RBI and a .651 OPS. He's been so bad that no one bothered to make a decent offer, with only the New York Mets showing the slightest interest. And now the White Sox have no choice but to exercise a $20 million option on him and pray that something changes in a year. They were able to move starter Adrian Houser and Austin Slater for fringe prospects, but that was it. Chicago Cubs The Cubs were supposed to be all-in from the moment they traded for All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker. Instead, they were almost all-out at the deadline. The only starter they acquired was Mike Soroka (3-8 with a 4.87 ERA). The only position player was utilityman Willi Castro from the Minnesota Twins. And their only reliever was Andrew Kittredge from the Baltimore Orioles along with Taylor Rogers, who was acquired in a salary dump from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Failing to land another starter could haunt them down the stretch, and certainly into October. 'We felt the asking price we felt was something we couldn't to the future,'' Jed Hoyer, Cubs president of baseball operations, told reporters. Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
