Projected Padres bullpen and rotation after shocking Mason Miller blockbuster

The San Diego Padres and general manager A.J. Preller have done it again. Just when you think that there's not a foreseeable path to a blockbuster in the NL West, the Padres pulled off a stunner to land Mason Miller and J.P. Sears from the Athletics. In return, San Diego is sending top prospect Leo De Vries to the A's along with three pitchers, Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez.

Preller and the Padres have remained aggressive at the MLB Trade Deadline, being connected to the likes of Jarren Duran and Steven Kwan before reports of their connection to Miller, arguably the best young closer in baseball, became apparent. Now, San Diego might just be getting started. With Miller coming along with Sears, perhaps the Friars now have the ability to deal both starter Dylan Cease and current closer Robert Suarez, potentially for an outfield piece. But Bob Nightengale is reporting that the Padres are keeping both.

So with these wholesale changes, let's take a look at what we're projecting both the Padres bullpen and rotation to look like following the trade deadline.

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Projected Padres bullpen after trading for Mason Miller

If the Padres indeed keep Suarez, then they now have the luxury of two high-leverage closers at the back of the bullpen with elite stuff. How San Diego chooses to deploy them will remain to be seen, but it's a luxury that few teams in baseball, save for maybe the Mets after the trade deadline, have at their disposal and to their advantage.

Dropping out of the bullpen will be David Morgan. That has nothing to do with his stuff as he's been quite impressive, but he has three remaining options left, while only Estrada and Marinaccio have one as well. That's just a numbers game that the Padres will have to play, unless they get ultra bold and remove the worst of the current bunch by the numbers, Yuki Matsui, but that's highly unlikely with one year and two player options remaining on his deal. Morgan appears to be the odd man out.

Projected Padres rotation after also adding J.P. Sears in Miller blockbuster

As for the rotation, it's a similar situation in terms of the odd-man out is likely young Ryan Bergert, despite his 2.78 ERA on the season. Adding Sears to this deal, though, is all about the Padres getting more depth when it comes to pitching, virtually all around. It's likely we'll see plenty of shuffling and movement, however necessary, to make this work, but the options will again come into play as only Bergert (3) and Vasquez (1) have options remaining.