Padres add relief ace Miller on Deadline day with 5 trades, 22 players on the move

SAN DIEGO -- It wouldn’t be a proper Deadline day without an A.J. Preller trade binge.

The Padres' general manager did not disappoint.

Preller reshaped his roster in a major way on Thursday -- making five deals that involved 22 players before the Trade Deadline. The most stunning of those deals featured righty relief ace Mason Miller bolstering a bullpen that was already the best in baseball.

"The expectation with this group is always to go win a ring, go win a championship," Preller said. "That's the goal."

The cost? Sufficiently steep.

San Diego sent top prospect Leo De Vries, ranked No. 3 overall by MLB Pipeline, to the A’s in the Miller deal -- along with 11 other prospects in the five combined deals. In addition to adding Miller, the Padres …

• Landed Ramón Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn from the Orioles for six prospects, shoring up their offense by addressing its biggest question marks in left field and at DH.

• Added catcher Freddy Fermin from the Royals for starters Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek, addressing the offense's other major question mark.

• Strengthened their rotation depth by trading for Nestor Cortes from the Brewers and acquiring JP Sears in the A’s trade.

• Landed Will Wagner from the Blue Jays as infield depth.

In short, San Diego addressed nearly every one of its major flaws, while bolstering its biggest strength by landing Miller -- albeit at a remarkably steep price. Here is the full accounting of the Padres’ Deadline day:

IN
RHP Mason Miller
IF/OF Ryan O’Hearn
OF Ramón Laureano
LHP JP Sears
C Freddy Fermin
LHP Nestor Cortes
IF Will Wagner
SS Jorge Quintana (Brewers prospect)

OUT
RHP Stephen Kolek
OF Brandon Lockridge
SS Leo De Vries (Padres' No. 1 prospect, MLB Pipeline's No. 3 overall)
RHP Braden Nett (Padres' No. 3 prospect)
LHP Boston Bateman (No. 6)
IF Cobb Hightower (No. 8)
RHP Ryan Bergert (No. 9)
RHP Henry Baez (No. 13)
RHP Tyson Neighbors (No. 16)
RHP Eduarniel Núñez (No. 17)
IF Brandon Butterworth (prospect)
IF/OF Victor Figueroa (prospect)
RHP Tanner Smith (prospect)
C Brandon Valenzuela (prospect)

If the Padres were going to deal De Vries -- one of the highest-ranked prospects ever traded at the Deadline -- they were going to need elite talent AND years of control. They get both with the flame-throwing Miller, who won’t become a free agent until after the 2029 season.

"He was asked about in every deal," Preller said of De Vries. "He's a really good player. He's a tremendous prospect. We weren't going to do it unless we got the right fit, the right pieces."

For the Padres, Miller's arrival fortifies a bullpen that was already widely believed to be the best in the sport. Through the first four months of the season, their relief corps combined to post a Major League-best 2.97 ERA and sent three players to the All-Star Game -- the first team in MLB history to do so.

They’ve already been able to shorten games significantly this season en route to a 60-49 record, despite question marks in the rotation and an inconsistent offense. The addition of Miller gives them one further back-end weapon -- a “fifth horseman” if you will. (Padres manager Mike Shildt had taken to calling his quartet of Robert Suarez, Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon the “Four Horsemen.”)

"Adding to a strength ... it's also about getting impact performers," Preller said. "Mason's an A-lane performer, one of the best in the world at what he does. Like we've seen so far through the first 100 games, we have an opportunity to shorten the game. You want to take that."

If bullpens win in October, the Padres should like their chances. An All-Star in 2024, Miller has posted a 3.76 ERA and 20 saves in 38 games for the A's this season. He has fanned 59 and walked 18 in 38 1/3 innings. It’s unclear precisely where he could slot into the Padres' bullpen. But with team control through the 2029 season, perhaps the more interesting question is where he slots in long-term.

The Padres paid an awful lot to acquire Miller. Is it possible they’d look to transition him into a starting role in the future, the way they’ve already done, to great success, with Seth Lugo and Michael King? Miller debuted as a starter with the A’s in 2023 before transitioning to the bullpen. Preller seemed to leave that possibility open.

"It's nice to have four-plus years with Mason Miller," he said. "He's a guy that brings a lot to the table, and we'll continue to see what's the best [way] for him to impact the Padres as we go."

In the meantime, the other four trades (and the other half of the A's deal) addressed all of the Padres' biggest question marks leading into the Deadline. They needed at least two bats? They got four. They needed an upgrade at catcher? They got it. They needed rotation stability? Cortes and Sears will go a long way.

So will the team's decision to hang onto Dylan Cease, who remained with the Padres through it all, despite rampant trade speculation for, really, the past nine months. Cease's status was perhaps the most hotly debated subject in the Padres' front office in the weeks leading up to the Deadline.

Ultimately, Preller said, "Our best team has Dylan Cease on it."

Cease has underperformed this season, though peripheral metrics indicate that he’s been better than his 4.79 ERA. The Padres kept their asking price high, and in the end, it wasn't met.

Cease -- like Suarez, King and Luis Arraez -- can become a free agent after the season. In dealing Cease, the Padres could’ve begun to recoup some value. They will instead move forward with a loaded roster but a depleted farm system.

The 18-year-old De Vries was the top international prospect in the 2024 class. Some believe he has best-prospect-in-baseball upside. Nett, meanwhile, was one of the organization’s fastest risers. Bateman was an early standout after being drafted in the second round last year. Bergert had broken through in the big leagues and has looked sharp. The list goes on.

Preller, of course, has done this before. He made a whopping six deals before the Deadline in 2020. He traded for Juan Soto and Josh Hader in '22. In '24, he also created a lights-out back end, dealing for Jason Adam and Tanner Scott. In all of those cases, Preller gave up highly touted prospects -- many of whom are already difference-makers on the teams they were traded to.

"We understand you've got to give up good players to get good players," Preller said. "And at the end? If they've put your team in a good position for now and for the future, that's a positive outcome. If we're doing our job, we're going to have players that are going to show up in the big leagues [for other teams] that are doing well."

Say this for Preller: He’s never been afraid.