How’s the trade look now? A’s may face Mason Miller for 1st time in San Diego

When the Athletics dealt star closer Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres for a quartet of top prospects at the 2025 trade deadline, the flamethrowing closer was in a sort of sophomore slump.

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After 38 appearances, Miller’s earned run average (3.76) was sitting more than a point higher than his stellar rookie campaign (2.49) that made him the A’s lone All-Star selection in 2024.

Perhaps all he needed was a change of scenery.

In 46 innings with San Diego in the regular season, Miller has 90 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.78, good for a whopping 537 ERA+, a stat where 100 is the league average, adjusted for ballpark differences. In 22 appearances this season, Miller has only surrendered earned runs in one game — when he gave up two to the Chicago Cubs on April 27.

Now, Miller could face his former team for the first time since the trade this weekend when the A’s travel to Petco Park for a three-game series beginning 6:40 p.m. Friday, though how much action Miller gets will depend on the late-inning circumstances. The A’s entered the series at 26-24, first place in the American League West. The Padres were 29-20, within two games of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

With Miller about as hot as a pitcher can be, here’s an update on where the six players involved in the blockbuster deal — in an early peek at who may have won this blockbuster deal.

Miller for prospects a matter of risk

While Miller, whose 15 saves lead the National League so far this season, has undoubtedly been a success story for San Diego, the Padres had to give up one of the top prospects in all of baseball as well as a lot of their farm depth to obtain him.

Despite posting a strong 90-72 record last season, the Padres lost a three-game Wild Card series to the Chicago Cubs, meaning their win-now strategy at the deadline didn’t necessarily pay off.

However, unlike other deadline deals for players on expiring contracts, Miller, 27, still has three seasons of team control remaining after 2026 and will likely not become a free agent until at least 2030. When trading away a prospect like Leo De Vries, a 19-year-old shortstop currently rated as the second-best prospect in the league by MLB Pipeline, that level of control is important.

On paper, it is less risky to trade prospects for established MLB players because of how long a process it can be even for top prospects to make it to the Big Leagues, injuries and other potential challenges. However, De Vries’ dominance in the minors and likely path to the MLB will seemingly keep the debate over who won this trade alive for at least a few years, even with Miller’s dominance.

But the Padres found the risk of losing out on a generational talent was worth the addition of Miller and experienced left-handed starting pitcher JP Sears.

“My reaction has always been when we trade prospects away for established major league players, that it’s a good thing for us,” Craig Stammen, then-a special assistant to the Padres’ big-league coaching staff and baseball operations, said after the trade, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

Though reports circled about the Padres moving Miller into the rotation — where he debuted for the A’s in 2023 — he has stuck with his back-end bullpen role thus far, and has not started a game.

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Sears has struggled with Padres

In 2025, Sears, 30, started five games for the Padres after the trade, with a few trips back and forth between the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas and the Majors. After posting a solid 4.59 ERA in four seasons with the A’s, Sears struggled with the Padres, holding a 5.47 ERA before getting sent down for the last time March 22.

Even in El Paso, Sears has struggled, currently pitching to a 6.20 ERA in 40 2/3 innings.

While there’s a chance Sears may return to the MLB level at some point, the trade will likely be boiled down to Miller’s value versus what the A’s prospects can achieve when all is said and done.

De Vries shines most among A’s 4 additions

After finishing the 2025 season strong with the A’s high-A affiliate, De Vries has put the baseball world on notice in a dominant 41-game stint with the Double-A Midland RockHounds so far in 2026. De Vries is slashing .296/.372/.421 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases. De Vries also entered Friday on a six-game hit streak.

At 6 feet and198 pounds, one of the few concerns for the A’s organization is his size, something many young players have to bulk up on in the minor leagues.

“The biggest thing for Leo is to get in the weight room and really put the work in to add the muscle,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told MLB.com during spring training. “We can all add weight, but it has to be good weight, and it has to be a strength component that he can maintain for 140 games or more.”

Braden Nett, a 24-year-old pitcher, started off his season with the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators by surrendering no runs in 3 2/3 innings, before suffering a rotator cuff injury that hasn’t allowed him to enter a game since April 26.

Pitcher Henry Baez, 23, missed the start of the season with an elbow injury but has thrown 4 2/3 innings for Midland since being activated last week, surrendering seven runs and earning a loss.

While both Nett and Baez — the A’s No. 6 and 14 prospects per MLB Pipeline, respectively — haven’t gotten the chance to show much this season, their experience in the upper levels of the Minor Leagues in the Padres system could make them ready for MLB quickly once they recover.

Eduarniel Núñez, the fourth prospect the A’s acquired in the deal, threw in eight innings across six games for the team in 2025, surrendering eight runs on nine hits and seven walks. Nunez had been sent down to Midland before being shipped off to the Baltimore Orioles for cash last week, the A’s announced.

Though De Vries still has time to realize his potential, a lot is riding on the 19-year-old shortstop’s development if the A’s hope to look back on the trade as the clear winners thanks to Miller’s resurgence, which he may show off when his Padres take on the A’s on Friday night.

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