The Padres were rolling this spring, sitting comfortably over .500 and looking like a legitimate NL Wild Card threat. Then the wheels came off. San Diego has gone cold at the worst possible time, and suddenly the same front office that pulled off one of last summer's biggest blockbusters is being asked whether it's about to blow the whole thing up again.
The Padres have been cold lately. Does that mean they're becoming sellers? And does that mean it's Miller time? https://t.co/TqtZMRHTGg https://t.co/0MplCTnOb5
That question got a lot louder when Mark Feinsand dropped his report on rival executives weighing in on whether Preller could actually move Mason Miller. It's a wild thought on its face -- Preller shipped out a top-3 prospect in baseball to pry Miller loose from Oakland at last year's deadline, and now, barely 12 months later, the same guy could be back on the block.
Less than one year after shocking the baseball world with his trade for Mason Miller, could A.J. Preller do it again and trade the Padres' All-Star closer away? Rival executives weigh in: https://t.co/LRW4tc3jQz
For context on just how steep that price was: San Diego sent Leo De Vries, the shortstop who ranked as MLB Pipeline's No. 3 prospect at the time, along with three other pitching prospects, to get Miller and lefty J.P. Sears from the Athletics. Miller signed off on a $4 million deal to avoid arbitration this year, and as a Super Two he's still controllable for three more arbitration seasons -- exactly the kind of long runway that makes him valuable trade bait instead of an untouchable piece.
On the field, Miller has been every bit the ace closer the Padres paid for. He's been named an All-Star this season and has been about as dominant as a reliever can be, which is precisely why this rumor cycle feels so absurd. Teams don't usually shop a guy performing at that level unless the calculus around the whole roster has shifted -- and that's exactly what's happened as San Diego has slid down the NL Wild Card picture.
Miller himself has already pushed back on the noise, saying the rumors aren't based on anything concrete and that he doesn't expect to be moved. That's the company line closers give every deadline season, and it's usually true right up until it isn't. The bigger signal here is that the same executives fielding these questions reportedly still think Preller is unlikely to sell off his closer unless things get uglier over the next few weeks.
Still, the fact that this conversation is even happening says everything about where the Padres are right now. Preller built his reputation on being willing to do the unthinkable, and reversing course on his own splashy trade within a calendar year would be about as Preller as it gets. With the deadline bearing down in early August, every Padres loss between now and then is going to keep this storyline alive.