San Diego is reportedly acquiring Mason Miller and J.P. Sears from the A’s
MLB Trade Rumors: Closer Mason Miller and starter J.P. Sears are going to the San Diego Padres from the Athletics, per reports. Leodalis De Vries, a consensus top five prospect in baseball, is part of the package San Diego is giving up.
Miller, who turns 27 next month, has been in much demand for the last year-plus. Since the start of the 2024 season he has a 2.96 ERA and a 2.43 FIP in 103.1 IP as the closer for the team that used to be in Oakland. He has four seasons of team control remaining after 2025.
Sears, 29, is a lefthander who has bedeviled the Texas Rangers in particular as of late, so getting him to the National League is a positive thing from that perspective. He has a 4.95 ERA and a 4.95 FIP in 111 innings over 22 starts this season, and a 4.58 ERA and 4.93 FIP in 86 starts since the start of the 2023 season. He has three years of team control remaining, and his inclusion in the deal could mean that the Padres are anticipating dealing Dylan Cease today.
UPDATE — The other players going to the A’s in this deal are righthanded pitchers Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez, per reports.
Nett, 22, was signed as an undrafted free agent in August, 2022, having not pitched in college. He is #7 on the BA Padres board, and has a 3.39 ERA in 17 starts at AA this year.
Baez, 22, is #16 on the BA Padres board, and is on the Padres’ 40 man roster. He has a 1.96 ERA in 20 starts at AA this year, though with just an 8.3 K/9 rate.
Nunez, 25, was signed as a minor league free agent by the Padres this past winter, and is #14 on the BA Padres board. He has four appearances in the majors this year for San Diego, but has spent most of the season in the minors, putting up a 2.31 ERA in 35 innings over 29 games between AA and AAA.