Mason Miller traveled about 500 miles down the California coast and entered a whole new world. The lockdown reliever, who was traded from the Athletics — the Oakland Athletics when he played for them — sounds pretty thrilled about playing for a franchise that, in short, cares about the product it puts on the field. In a profile for the SF Standard, Miller said about playing for the Padres:
“Oh, it's awesome. Yeah, obviously, a huge switch from where I started my career in terms of attendance. Just seeing that kind of support every single night is special, and that’s kind of what comes with being in a beautiful city with beautiful weather and putting a good baseball product on the field.”
To be fair, Oakland's weather is pretty nice, too. But the "good baseball product" is definitely a new experience for Miller, who entered the league in 2023, right as the drama in Oakland was coming to a crescendo. He stopped short of calling out A's owner John Fisher, instead reflecting on his time in Oakland with civility:
“At the end of the day, it’s not our job to run the team. It's our job to play baseball. I’m sympathetic to the fans of Oakland and a franchise that's spent so much time here. I think that it's a waste for us to sit and harp on that or be angry. I obviously debuted with Oakland, so it holds a special place for me. Yeah, it’s like life goes on.”
Miller's sentiments reflect how baseball fans everywhere feel about the A's move from Oakland to (eventually, I guess) Las Vegas. It sucks! Maybe John Fisher could learn a thing or two from Miller about civility and respect. He won't, of course, as the only thing 64 year-old billionaires are interested in learning is how to squeeze every last dollar out of their workers, but I can dream, right?
Miller also said that, "This won’t compare to playing against your former team, but it’s probably as close as you could get right now,” in reference to playing the Giants in San Francisco. That's gotta be a pretty weird feeling; starting your career with a team that no longer exists anymore.
The A's were never interested in building a competitive team
And they proved that by trading Mason Miller. Yes, they got back Leo De Vries in the deal, the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball, so the trade itself was a good deal. But even making the trade in the first place showed the Athletics, still, don't care about presenting a quality baseball product until they're situated in their $1.7 billion new home in 2028. Until then, fans can get screwed, right?
Miller's move to the Padres is a win for him and a win for the franchise. As has been the case with most moves the franchise has made in the past decade-plus, though, it's an immediate loss for A's fans.