It was exactly why the San Diego Padres were willing to deal one of baseball’s top prospects at last year’s trade deadline.
The Padres led the Brewers 3-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning in Game 2 of their NLDS on Sunday at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Looking to even the best-of-five series at 1-1, manager Craig Stammen brought in shutdown closer Mason Miller for what the Padres hoped would be his first six-out save since 2024.
Miller retired the side in order in the eighth, then got the leadoff man out in the ninth. And then things fell apart: The previously untouchable righty walked three of the next four batters, loading the bases with two outs, before Jackson Chourio hit a two-run single to give the Brewers a 4-3 victory and pin Miller with the blown save.
The Padres went home down 2-0, and the Brewers can sweep the series on Tuesday night at Petco Park. Rightly or wrongly, Sunday’s finish raised the question of whether the Padres gave up too much to acquire a pitcher who is used to working only one inning.
FanSided originally gave the Athletics an A+ and the Padres a B+ on the day of the trade. Let’s see how the deal looks a little more than 14 months later.
Padres’ Mason Miller trade regrade
The postseason is always about what you have done for me lately. Yet it is hard to discount how dominant Miller has been in 88 regular-season appearances with the Padres: a 1.45 ERA and 0.857 WHIP while striking out 174 batters in 93.1 innings.
Miller also seamlessly stepped into the closer’s role this season after Robert Suarez left for the Atlanta Braves as a free agent last winter, following an NL-best 40 saves in 2025. Furthermore, Miller is under contractual control through 2029. He has a $4 million salary this season and is likely to double it to $8 million in 2027 through arbitration, but should get pricey after that.
Giving up DeVries was risky, but Miller has been worth the return. San Diego might not even be here without him, and the reality is that this sort of blowup could happen to any reliever in October — especially across two innings. If the Padres have a save situation on Tuesday night, Stammen will absolutely go to Miller again.
Padres regrade: A
Athletics’ Mason Miller trade regrade
De Vries had an outstanding season for Double-A Midland this year despite being just 19, hitting .290/.378/.458 with 13 home runs and 34 stolen bases in 93 games. However, De Vries underwent right shoulder surgery on Sept. 18 and will likely miss the first two months of next season.
Regardless, Baseball America and MLB Pipeline rank De Vries as the third-best prospect in the game behind Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jesus Made and Boston Red Sox shortstop Franklin Arias.
The Athletics also acquired right-handed pitching prospects Henry Baez, Braden Nett and Eduarniel Nunez. Baez and Nett were both slowed by shoulder problems and had terrible seasons this year. The Athletics sold Nunez’s contract to the Baltimore Orioles on May 17 after designating him for assignment.
Nett, 24, went 1-4 with a 7.99 ERA in 17 games (15 starts) with Triple-A Las Vegas and Midland. In 14 starts for Midland, the 23-year-old Baez went 1-8 with a 7.09 ERA.
Baez is ranked as the organization’s No. 12 prospect by Baseball America and No. 14 by MLB Pipeline. MLB Pipeline ranks Net No. 18, and Baseball America ranks him No. 28.
Unless Nunez and Nett improve, the trade boils down to Miller for De Vries. However, De Vries has the look of a potential superstar, and Miller simply wouldn't have moved the needle much for the A's over the last couple of years.
Athletics regrade: A-
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