The San Diego Padres went all-out at the trade deadline, making some very impactful moves to bolster their roster and give themselves a real chance to run down the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. As of Thursday, they are just two games back of the defending World Series champions and firmly in control of the second Wild Card spot.
San Diego added Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O'Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Nestor Cortes, Will Wagner and Freddy Fermin in trades at the deadline. They had to give up a lot to land Miller and Sears from the Athletics in particular, a big bet on the potential of this 2025 team to finally get over the hump in the NL.
So far, that bet appears to be panning out just fine for San Diego. Miller picked up his 21st save of the year last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks and made Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who tied the game against him the previous night, look foolish by striking him out with three sliders. And that was just the tip of the iceberg for the Padres, who offered a glimpse of their ideal postseason formula that should have the rest of the league on notice.
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Padres' Mason Miller trade already looks genius
Miller was an All-Star last year and has taken a slight step back this year. In addition to his 21 saves in 41 appearances, he has posted a 3.92 ERA with both the Athletics and San Diego.
The Padres now have a lights-out back end of the bullpen that features Miller and Robert Suarez, both of whom are elite closers. But Miller also clearly learned from his mistake on Tuesday night when rematching Gurriel. He didn't offer him the fastball and instead went back to his wipeout slider to get the job done.
The Padres may have given up a lot of top prospects in order to land Miller, but so far, even with a few struggles early on, the deal is looking like it will be well worth the price San Diego paid. O'Hearn hit the go-ahead homer for San Diego on Wednesday, while Laureano has been on a tear as well. Suddenly, this lineup has very few holes, while the best relief corps in baseball can make up for a still-thin rotation.
Because of the addition of Miller, San Diego has one of the top bullpens in all of baseball, and facing them late in games will be no easy task. The Diamondbacks may have had a little luck on Tuesday, but Miller bounced right back in a big way to hold them in check and secure a key win for the Padres.
It will certainly be interesting to see how these moves pan out down the stretch. So far, so good for the Padres as they have inched closer to the Dodgers.
Miller is still one of the top closers in baseball despite a step back, and the Padres have him under contract through the 2029 season.