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A’s Place Luis Severino On 15-Day IL Due To Oblique Strain

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The Athletics announced that Luis Severino has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left oblique strain.  Left-hander Hogan Harris was called up from Triple-A to take Severino’s spot on the active roster.

The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, but anything more than a Grade 1 strain (the least-serious type) could put the remainder of Severino’s 2025 season in jeopardy.  Since the A’s are out of contention, the team might choose to just shut the right-hander down if he’s going to miss anything beyond six weeks of action, as there would be little point in bringing Severino just to make a token start or two at season’s end.

Severino’s injury adds another layer to what has been an unusual first season for the veteran’s Athletics tenure.  The A’s shocked many in the baseball world last winter with an uncharacteristic spending splurge when they signed Severino a three-year, $67MM free agent contract.  Even if this deal and other relatively larger expenditures from the A’s were as much about avoiding a grievance from the players’ union as much as they were about improving the roster, on paper Severino certainly seemed like a solid addition to the club’s pitching staff.

Instead, Severino has a 4.82 ERA over 136 1/3 innings, as well as very poor strikeout and whiff rates.  While Severino hasn’t missed many bats over his last few seasons, he has allowed far more hard contact this year than he did during his more successful 2024 campaign with the Mets.

The story of Severino’s 2025 season may lie in his home/road splits, as the righty has a 3.17 ERA over 65 1/3 away innings and a garish 6.34 ERA in 71 innings at Sutter Health Park.  Severino has been public about his displeasure with playing in the minor league ballpark, and this reportedly made A’s management eager to trade the righty.  Despite some rumors, no deal was struck prior to the deadline, which isn’t surprising given how the Athletics reportedly weren’t keen on eating much or any of Severino’s salary to accommodate any potential move.

Severino is owed $20MM in 2026, and he has a $22MM player option for the 2027 season.  Given his feelings about Sutter Health Park, an opt-out might seem like a possibility even if his numbers continue to be uninspiring, which perhaps creates an unusual situation for both the player and the team down the road.  Barring a trade for another team’s unwelcome contract, Severino’s opt-out clause and recent performance would make an offseason move tricky, and this oblique strain now adds another wrinkle to the situation.

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The AL West?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. So far, the Phillies, Reds, and Padres have each come out on top in their respective divisions. Today, we’ll be moving on to the American League with the AL West. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Houston Astros

The Astros made one of the most shocking moves of the deadline when they brought Carlos Correa home in a trade with the Twins. Adding Correa back to the mix creates something of a positional logjam on the infield for the club in the long-term, but with third baseman Isaac Paredes unlikely to return this season due to a severe hamstring injury, Correa shores up the infield in a big way and cost the club virtually nothing other than money. Two more players were acquired to help round out the club’s position player mix: infielder Ramon Urias and outfielder Jesus Sanchez.

All three are controlled beyond the 2025 season, and while Sanchez cost the Astros rookie right-hander Ryan Gusto, no upper-level prospects changed hands in the club’s trio of deals. That ability to add long-term talent without surrendering the best prospects in the system was impressive, though the roughly $70MM they’ll be paying Correa over the life of his contract is a significant outlay and they failed to add the starting pitcher they were hoping could fill out the middle of the rotation behind Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown.

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners’ moves at the deadline were arguably even splashier than those in Houston. While the club acquired three rental players without any team control beyond the current campaign, it’s hard to argue against the fact that they’ve significantly upped their chances of winning both the AL West and even the World Series this year. Adding Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor to the infield corners in separate deals with the Diamondbacks represents a sizable upgrade over Luke Raley and Ben Williamson.

Meanwhile, the return (Tyler Locklear and a quartet of pitching prospects outside of Top 100 consideration) was lighter than what was required to bring in high-end controllable talents at this deadline. The Caleb Ferguson trade with the Pirates follows a similar path. The swap gives a club in need of left-handed help in the bullpen a steady, capable setup man who throws from the left side and can partner with Gabe Speier. That deal cost only Class-A pitching prospect Jeter Martinez, who has a 6.18 ERA in 16 starts this year. The Mariners opted to maximize short-term impact while doing so on a budget, and if they can overtake Houston in the West down the stretch, it would be hard to argue with them as the winners of the deadline.

Texas Rangers

With one-and-a-half games currently sitting between the Rangers and a postseason berth, it’s understandable that they acted quite aggressively this trade season. The focus of their haul was a trio of veterans: starter Merrill Kelly, setup lefty Danny Coulombe, and relief arm Phil Maton. Kelly stands out as arguably the best starting pitcher traded this summer, and the high cost (by the standards of a rental player) reflects that. The Rangers had to surrender their #5, #9, and #13 prospects according to MLB.com to get the deal done. Coulombe and Maton weren’t quite that expensive, but cost Texas a trio of prospects led by southpaw Garrett Horn, who was recently added to the club’s top 30 prospects list over at Baseball America at #25.

Shelling out significant prospect talent in order to make a serious run at a Wild Card berth is understandable, but what’s worth noting is that the Rangers also blew past the luxury tax in order to make those additions. Texas had worked meticulously throughout the season in order to stay below the first threshold and reset their penalties, but all of that work has now been thrown out in an effort to maximize their odds at making the postseason in 2025. The potential impact is clearly significant, but was that worth it for a team not even in playoff position on deadline day?

Los Angeles Angels

The Angels had a quiet deadline that was somewhat incongruent with their status as fringe (at best) contenders. The Halos are currently six games out of an AL Wild Card spot with a middling 55-60 record, but that didn’t stop them from doing some light buying this summer. Adding former top prospect Oswald Peraza in a minor swap with the Yankees made some sense, given the club’s long-term needs on the infield, Peraza’s many years of remaining team control and a low cost of acquisition.

Acquiring a pair of rental veterans for their bullpen in the form of Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia was a bit more questionable, but the cost do so was low. Former 13th-round pick Sam Brown and 26-year-old lefty Jake Eder (whom the Angels had picked up off waivers earlier in the year) went back to the Nats in that swap.

The Angels didn’t really damage the farm, but they missed an opportunity to listen on players like Yoan Moncada, Taylor Ward, Luis Rengifo, and maybe even Reid Detmers. Selling even some short-term pieces could have helped restock a farm system that’s been viewed as below-average for quite some time. The urge to push in during a rare, mostly-healthy season for Mike Trout is an understandable one, but it’s hard to say with confidence that doing so was the right move.

The Athletics

Unlike the rest of the division, the Athletics were sellers this summer. They made just two trades. Shipping Miguel Andujar to the Reds wasn’t a major move but netted a 2022 fourth-rounder (right-hander Kenya Huggins) who now sits 25th among their prospects at MLB.com.

The vast majority of their deadline focused on the single biggest blockbuster that happened this July: the deal that sent closer Mason Miller and lefty starter JP Sears to the Padres. Acquiring a consensus top-five prospect in the sport by bringing in Leo De Vries is arguably enough to win the deadline by itself, but he was also joined by well-regarded prospects Braden Nett and Henry Baez, Double-A starters who could be part of the rotation mix in West Sacramento sometime next year.

Rounding out the package is rookie reliever Eduarniel Nunez, who struggled in his first appearances with the A’s but could bolster their bullpen in the future. It was a very strong return, with De Vries in particular standing out as the sort of elite prospect that almost never gets dealt at all, much less in a deadline trade for a reliever. On the other hand, giving up Miller with four-plus years of team control remaining (not to mention the possibility he could be converted into a rotation role in the future to further raise his value) could make this deal a tough pill to swallow, particularly if the 18-year-old De Vries does not blossom into an All-Star caliber player.

A number of different approaches characterized this deadline for the AL West. The Rangers and Mariners were very aggressive on bringing in short-term additions, while the Astros focused on bringing in controllable talent, the A’s brought in a haul for the future and the Angels largely stood pat. Who had the best deadline of that quintet? Have your say in the poll below:

MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Padres Acquire Mason Miller, JP Sears

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The Padres are once again grabbing deadline headlines, as they’ve swung a trade that’ll bring star closer Mason Miller and lefty JP Sears to San Diego while sending a four-player package led by top shortstop prospect Leo De Vries back to the Athletics. The A’s will also add right-handers Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez in the blockbuster deal.  The deal is now official.

It’ll go down as one of the more stunning trades of the 2025 deadline. Miller is one of the sport’s most highly regarded relievers — an All-Star and fourth-place finisher in American League Rookie of the Year voting just last season. He’s controlled for another four years beyond the current season. De Vries, meanwhile, currently sits as the No. 5 prospect in the entire sport on Baseball America’s latest rankings.

It also sets the stage for a fair bit of other dealing from the Padres, who’ve been discussing current closer Robert Suarez and righty Dylan Cease in trade talks. Either or both could change hands now in trades that simultaneously net younger talent and free up payroll space for San Diego to pursue upgrades in left field, behind the plate and/or on the bench. Both Miller and Sears are still in their pre-arbitration years and thus earning just over the league minimum. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggests that there are no current plans to trade Suarez, though with president of baseball operations A.J. Preller at the helm for the Padres, nothing should ever be expressly ruled out. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that both Suarez and Cease are still being discussed.

The addition of Miller strengthens what was already a powerhouse San Diego bullpen (though, as mentioned, could set the stage for a Suarez trade as well). San Diego relievers have pitched to an MLB-best 2.97 earned run average on the season and rank fifth with a collective 24.1% strikeout rate.

Miller, despite carrying a fairly pedestrian 3.76 ERA, will provide a massive upgrade. The majority of his trouble this year came in a rough month from early May to early June. He’s rattled off 14 innings of one-run ball with 18 strikeouts and four walks since June 15 and, of course, was one of the most dominant bullpen arms in the game a year ago. Miller has pitched 136 2/3 big league innings and carries a 3.16 ERA with a superlative 37.3% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. He’s saved 48 games and tallied one hold in his career to date and has blown only six opportunities.

Certainly, the tools are there for Miller’s bottom-line results to align with the very best arms in the sport. No one in baseball throws harder than his average 101.1 mph four-seamer, and Miller’s 20.4% swinging-strike rate trails only Josh Hader and Fernando Cruz for the top mark among pitchers with even 10 innings pitched this season. Dating back to 2024, he’s fanned nearly 41% of his opponents and kept his walk rate under 10%. Even in an era where power arsenals with premium bat-missing ability seem to proliferate the sport, the 6’5″ Miller stands above the rest in a tier nearly unto himself.

It’s worth at least considering the possibility that Miller could return to the rotation at some point down the road. Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic suggested last night that it was an idea the Padres had considered. Miller was drafted as a starter and made his big league debut in the Athletics’ rotation. Given the Friars’ lack of rotation depth and plethora of talented relievers, they could at least explore the idea of returning Miller to a starting role beginning next season, though there’s obviously some risk in removing him from a role in which he’s found such success.

Regardless of which role Miller holds in the long run, it seems likely he’ll work in relief for the balance of the current season. He’s not yet arbitration-eligible — though he will be this winter — and is controlled for four additional seasons, so it’s only natural that the asking price on the right-hander was exorbitant. The Padres have repeatedly rebuffed teams who’ve come calling for De Vries or top catching prospect Ethan Salas, but San Diego ultimately relented in order to acquire four-plus seasons of arguably the game’s most dominant reliever and Sears — a respectable back-of-the-rotation arm who can help solidify the staff for three-plus years in his own right.

Sears, 29, came to the A’s alongside Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina in the trade sending Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the Yankees. He’s the only one of the pitchers (on either side of the deal) that has held up without a major injury.

While Sears is a pure back-end starter, he’s been a durable source of competitive innings for the A’s. The 5’11” southpaw started 32 games in both 2023 and 2024, and he’s taken the mound 22 times in 2025. This year’s 4.95 ERA is a career-high, though like teammate Luis Severino, more of those struggles have come at home in what’s proving to be a hitter-friendly setting at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. Sears has a 5.48 ERA and has allowed 14 homers in 47 2/3 innings at home, compared to a 4.55 mark and nine round-trippers in 63 1/3 innings on the road.

Over Sears’ past 464 innings with the A’s, the lefty has worked to a combined 4.58 ERA. He’s fanned 20.1% of his opponents in that time and kept his walk rate to a strong 6.7%. Sears sits 92.2 mph on his four-seamer and couples that pitch with a slider that sits 79.5 mph and a changeup that’s averaging 83.4 mph this year. He’s averaging just over five innings per start.

Sears now slots into a rotation group that includes Cease (for now), Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish, Ryan Bergert and Randy Vasquez. Top starter Michael King has been out for more than two months but is expected to return before season’s end. Both Cease and King are free agents at season’s end.

San Diego has been hopeful of re-signing King, though that’s no guarantee. Next year, they’ll get Joe Musgrove back from Tommy John surgery. A 2026 rotation could well include Musgrove, Pivetta, Darvish, Sears and one of Bergert/Vasquez/Stephen Kolek, though the return of King or acquisition of other rotation arms obviously can’t be ruled out. Regardless, Sears adds some nice depth and will remain affordable. He also still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, giving the Friars plenty of flexibility with the composition of that staff.

The A’s have been reluctant to move Miller, but San Diego’s willingness to include De Vries surely pushed things over the edge. He’s the best prospect moved at a trade deadline since the Padres gutted their farm system to acquire Juan Soto three years ago. Today’s front offices are generally loath to part with prospects who’ve reached this level of acclaim, but the Preller-led Padres are the most aggressive in baseball when it comes to the trade market.

Still just 18 years old, De Vries is a switch-hitting shortstop with power who’s having success in High-A despite his youth. More advanced and experienced opponents haven’t fazed him. He’s hitting .245/.357/.410 (116 wRC+) with eight homers and eight steals despite being one of the youngest players in the league. He draws above-average grades across the board in most scouting reports, with his raw power, in particular, generating plus marks.

De Vries is listed at 6’2″ and 183 pounds, although given his age, he could still grow into more bulk and tap more into his raw power. Baseball America describes him as a potential “centerpiece of a big league club,” touting an all-fields approach from the left side of the plate and a pull-heavy approach from the right side that lets him get to that power more frequently. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen is a bit more bearish, albeit only relative to his elite ranking at BA and at MLB.com (where he’s ranked third in the game). Citing questions about his defensive aptitude and some swing-and-miss, FanGraphs’ report calls De Vries “only” a top-40 or so prospect in the game and has him as more of a strong regular than a superstar.

As with any prospect, there’s a fairly broad range of outcomes, but De Vries’ ceiling is higher than most and he’s on track to reach the majors at an uncommonly young age, giving the A’s more control over his peak physical seasons. A call to the majors in 2027 seems quite feasible, and in a best-case scenario he could even debut late next year. If De Vries incurs injuries or takes a bit longer to adjust to upper-level pitching, that debut could push back to 2028, but even then he’d be in just his age-21 season. Regardless, when the range of likely outcomes is generally agreed upon as something between “above-average everyday shortstop” to “superstar centerpiece of a team,” we’re talking about one of the game’s premier young talents.

De Vries is the clear headliner of the deal, but the three arms headed back to the A’s are hardly mere throw-ins. Nett and Baez were reportedly among the more sought-after prospects in the second tier of a thin Padres farm system. Both are posting strong numbers in Double-A this season.

Nett, 23, has started 17 games and pitched 74 1/3 innings. He’s logged a 3.39 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 42.3% ground-ball rate. Nett signed with the Padres as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has pitched his way into genuine prospect status.

Baseball America ranked Nett seventh among San Diego prospects earlier this month. He sits third in their system at MLB.com and 12th at FanGraphs. He sits 95-97 mph with a fastball that can climb to 99 mph. Nett’s slider gets above-average grades from scouts and works with a cutter, changeup and curveball that could all use some additional refinement. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this offseason and will surely be selected to the A’s 40-man roster by November — if he’s not called upon for a major league look in the season’s final two months.

Baez, meanwhile, ranked 16th in the system at BA, 13th at MLB.com and 27th at FanGraphs. He’s posted a 1.96 ERA in 20 Double-A starts this season but has averaged under five innings per outing. Baez sits in the low to mid-90s with his fastball and tops out around 97. He has better command than Nett but lesser velocity and misses fewer bats. He also features a curveball in the upper 70s and a mid-80s changeup. Baez was already on San Diego’s 40-man roster and will thus go right onto the Athletics’ 40-man roster as well.

The 26-year-old Nunez has already made his major league debut, tossing 4 2/3 innings out of the Padres’ bullpen this year. He’s a pure bullpen prospect who can step right into manager Mark Kotsay’s relief corps, if the A’s choose. He’s sat 97.9 mph with his four-seamer in his brief big league look, and Nunez has sat even higher (98.8 mph) in Triple-A. He couples that pitch with an upper-80s slider and a seldom-used curveball in the low to mid-80s.

San Diego signed Nunez as a minor league free agent over the winter, and he’s made huge gains with what had been previously poor command in the Cubs’ system. Nunez walked 22% of his opponents with Chicago’s Triple-A club a year ago. His 14% mark in Triple-A this season is still problematic but nowhere near as alarming. He also boasts a massive 38.6% chase rate in the minors and an outrageous 21.5% swinging-strike rate.

If Nunez can even come close to replicating those rates in the majors, he’d have the potential to be a high-end relief arm himself. That said, it’s worth bearing in mind that Nunez is already older than the elite reliever for whom he was just traded (Miller), and this is the first time he’s really shown any semblance of command in the upper minors. There’s upside here, but Nunez is still very much a work in progress.

There’s rarely a dull deadline when it comes to Preller, and this morning’s early and still fairly stunning swap of one of MLB’s most coveted prospects for one of its best big league relievers leaves plenty of time for further dealing. The Padres have been connected to left fielders like Cleveland’s Steven Kwan and Boston’s Jarren Duran while simultaneously exploring deals involving Cease, Suarez and other members of the current big league roster. More fireworks are surely on the way, but Preller and his Oakland West Sacramento counterpart, David Forst, have kicked things off with a bang.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the trade of Miller and Sears to the Padres and was also first with the full details on the Athletics’ return. This post was originally published at 10:25am.

A’s To Promote Luis Morales

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The Athletics are calling up pitching prospect Luis Morales prior to tomorrow’s game with the Diamondbacks, according to reporter Francys Romero.  Morales will be making his Major League debut whenever he makes his first appearance in a game.  No corresponding moves will need to be made, as the Athletics’ deadline trades have left space on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters.

Mason Miller was one of the players dealt, as the A’s sent Miller and JP Sears to the Padres as part of a blockbuster six-player swap.  The 22-year-old Morales may slide right into Miller’s old bullpen role, if perhaps not specifically as a closer, given how Morales has been operating as a multi-inning reliever over his last month of Triple-A action.  While Morales had operated almost exclusively as a starter before the role change, the decision was made to help manage Morales’ innings.  He has already set a high career high with 89 1/3 frames in 2025, and the A’s are interested in seeing how Morales can now fare against big league hitters.

MLB Pipeline ranks Morales as the 80th-best prospect in baseball, and he also sat 79th in Baseball America’s preseason top-100 ranking.  The A’s gave the Cuban-born Morales a hefty $3MM bonus as an international prospect in 2023, and he has been living up to expectations by making a pretty quick rise through the farm system.  The 2025 season has seen Morales pitch at the Double-A and Triple-A levels for the first time, and he has a 3.73 ERA, 9.6% walk rate, and 29.2% strikeout rate over his 89 1/3 combined innings at the two affiliates in Midland and Las Vegas.

Morales’ control has been average at best, but he brings heavy velocity with a fastball that sits in the 96-97mph range, and cracking the 100mph threshold seems a possibility with this temporary move to the bullpen.  His slider is another quality pitch and his changeup has promise, but is a little more inconsistent.

Pipeline’s scouting report notes that Morales cut back to just these three pitches, and while he could reincorporate his curveball or another pitch down the road, narrowing an arsenal is usually a sign that an organization could be ultimately viewing a pitcher as a reliever over the long term.  The A’s will surely give Morales a chance to stick as a starter before considering a permanent move to the pen, of course, and he might well get a couple of starts in the majors in an early audition for 2026.

Reds Acquire Miguel Andujar

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The Reds have acquired utility player Miguel Andujar from the Athletics in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Kenya Huggins, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC2.  Andujar is a free agent after the season, and was seen as a very likely candidate to be moved by the rebuilding A’s.

After a runner-up finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and then a few uninspiring years with the Yankees, Andujar has rebuilt his value as a regular contributor since leaving New York.  He has hit .285/.320/.412 over 640 plate appearances with the Pirates and Athletics since Opening Day 2023, good for a 105 wRC+.

As per the norm for a right-handed batter, Andujar has performed far better against left-handed pitching than he has against righties.  Cincinnati will probably deploy Andujar as a platoon bat with lefty-swingers Gavin Lux or Jake Fraley in the corner outfield slots, and Andujar will likely get some time at third base as a better-hitting alternative to Ke’Bryan Hayes.  Another of the Reds’ deadline pickups, Hayes is an elite defender who struggles mightily at the plate, so Andujar figures to get some late-game pinch-hitting opportunities as well.

Andujar is earning $3MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility, so the Reds will only owe him a little under $1MM for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.  That’s a bargain price for an above-average bat who has upside as a lefty-masher, and it’s a particularly smooth fit since the Reds are working within a limited budget.

Cincinnati emerges from deadline day with an estimated payroll of just under $119.9MM (hat tip to RosterResource).  This stands as the Reds’ highest payroll since the 2021 season, and the acquisitions of Hayes, Andujar, and Zack Littell indicate that the team is making a strong push towards its first postseason appearance since 2020.  The Reds are 57-52 entering tonight’s action, and sit three games behind the Padres for the final NL wild card spot.

Huggins was a fourth-round pick for Cincinnati in the 2022 draft, and a Tommy John surgery shelved him for big chunks of the 2023-24 seasons.  As a result, Huggins has only 107 pro innings to his name, with 63 1/3 of those frames coming this year with A-level Daytona.  Huggins has a 3.69 ERA in his return to action this year, looking pretty sharp even with a diminished strikeout rate that could be a by-product of his long layoff.  MLB Pipeline slots Huggins in as the 27th-best prospect in the Athletics’ farm system, noting that he has exhibited better command post-surgery.

Kotsay: Mason Miller “Unavailable Tonight,” Not Injured

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Athletics closer Mason Miller was “unavailable tonight,” according to manager Mark Kotsay, who also said the decision was not injury-related.  The A’s held a 5-3 lead over the Mariners entering the ninth inning at Sutter Health Park tonight and elected to stick with rookie Jack Perkins rather than go to the flamethrowing closer Miller, who hasn’t pitched since Saturday.  The heavy implication is that a trade may be in the works for Miller, who is known to be of interest to the Padres and Yankees among others.

The Mets and Phillies were linked to Miller earlier today.  The Phillies have since acquired Jhoan Duran from the Twins, while the Mets subsequently added Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley (plus Gregory Soto five days ago).  The list of potential suitors for Miller is likely extensive, though the young talent required to get him will be significant.

Miller, 27 in August, is under team control through 2029.  He’s also one of the game’s best relievers.  Miller’s 39.1 K% ranks second among all relievers, as does his average fastball velocity of 101.2.  Some might say Miller has slipped a bit from last year’s breakout All-Star performance, but his 3.76 ERA in a 38 1/3 inning sample will hardly deter interested GMs.  Miller’s walk rate has worsened, and he’s been barreled up a good amount this year, but he’s still an impact stopper who’s under control for four-plus years.

In Tim Dierkes’ mailbag last week, he attempted to find comps for a reliever of Miller’s caliber being traded.  Tim concluded, “Even going back a decade to identify those comps, there’s not a great match for Miller, trading one of the game’s best relievers at the deadline with four-plus years of control remaining. Unless the waters are muddied with, say, Luis Severino’s contract, I’d expect two very good 55/60 grade prospects, and perhaps an equivalent player with MLB experience, to be required.”

As J.J. Cooper of Baseball America outlined yesterday, typically about three top-100 prospects are traded at the deadline each year.  We’ve seen one thus far, with #50 Eduardo Tait heading to Minnesota to headline the Duran deal.  Mick Abel, the secondary piece in that trade, “very much is on the very cusp of the Top 100” according to Cooper.  Keep in mind that Duran is under team control for two-plus years, while Miller is under control for four-plus.  Miller’s arbitration salaries will only begin next year.

We haven’t seen a top-25 prospect traded since the Padres included a pair in the 2022 Juan Soto deal.  I’d have to think Miller would require at least one such player, such as Zyhir Hope, Josue De Paula, or Dalton Rushing of the Dodgers or George Lombard Jr. of the Yankees.  It’s been eight years since a team parted with a top ten prospect at the deadline; Padres President of Baseball Operations & General Manager A.J. Preller holds one such chip in #5-ranked Leo De Vries.  It’s also possible that contenders could win the bidding by including valuable players off the big league roster.  The Padres have one of those in play in rental starter Dylan Cease; it might require a third team and a lot of creativity (and more players) to spin him into Miller.  We’ll find out in less than 17 hours.

A potential Miller trade would take place in a time of uncertainty for the Athletics, who are playing in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento in the first of what is meant to be three seasons.  A’s owner John Fisher held a symbolic groundbreaking for his new Las Vegas stadium back in June, though it’s still unclear how that will be financed.

Yankees, Mets, Phillies Have Discussed Mason Miller With A’s

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The Yankees, Mets, and Phillies have all engaged in talks with the Athletics regarding closer Mason Miller, reports The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. This update comes 10 days after USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported in no uncertain terms that Miller was off the market. While Rosenthal does not suggest a trade is likely, it seems the A’s are at least entertaining offers.

Any conversations between the A’s and Phillies may have been brief. Rosenthal notes the A’s asked for Philadelphia’s top pitching prospect, Andrew Painter, in return for Miller. But as Rosenthal and colleague Matt Gelb reported earlier today, the Phillies “refuse to even entertain the thought of moving Painter.” Rosenthal and Gelb suggested that the Phillies’ refusal to part with Painter likely eliminates them from the market for Miller or Twins closer Jhoan Duran.

Rosenthal also throws a bit of cold water on the Yankees connection. The A’s, he explains, are seeking top-tier young arms (hence their interest in Painter). Meanwhile, he mentions that the Yankees are “more focused on adding pitching than subtracting it.” In other words, the A’s are presumably seeking close-to-MLB-ready pitchers (as their interest in Painter implies), and the Yankees, who have learned a lot about the value of pitching depth this season, might not be willing to part with the sort of players who meet the Athletics’ criteria.

As for the Mets, they might not be quite as interested in Miller after they dealt for Tyler Rogers this afternoon. Rogers might not have Miller’s closing experience, high ceiling, or years of team control, but he’s arguably having a better season than Miller, and he and Edwin Díaz give the Mets a strong one-two pairing of right-handers at the back end of their bullpen. The Mets also traded for left-hander Gregory Soto last week, so they might now prefer to focus their efforts on improvements in other areas.

All this to say, the chances of Miller being moved this summer still seem slim, but it might not be out of the question. Perhaps if fellow closers Duran or Ryan Helsley fetch a high enough price for the Twins and Cardinals, respectively, the Athletics will be convinced to take advantage of a relatively weak trade market and the high number of contenders seeking bullpen help.

Featured image courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images.

Athletics Place Jacob Wilson On 10-Day IL With Fractured Forearm

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The Athletics have placed rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left forearm, the team announced today. He had been nursing what the team initially described as a left hand contusion since he was hit by a pitch before the All-Star break (per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com) and had not played since Friday. Darell Hernaiz has been recalled from Triple-A to fill Wilson’s spot on the active roster.

A hamstring strain and a month-long stint on the injured list prevented Wilson from exceeding rookie limits in 2024. However, he hit the ground running in 2025 and quickly established himself as a favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year. He produced a .339/.380/.473 slashline through the end of June, with a 137 wRC+ and 2.8 FanGraphs WAR, earning the starting shortstop spot on the AL All-Star squad. Yet, in nine games since he was hit by a pitch on July 8, he went just 4-for-38 with a .312 OPS and a -24 wRC+. His fWAR dropped by close to half a win in that short span, and even before the news of his IL stint, he seemed to have fallen behind his teammate Nick Kurtz as the AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner. (Of course, that has as much to do with Kurtz’s phenomenal performance as it does Wilson’s injury-induced slump.)

Until the A’s provide further information, it’s hard to guess how much time Wilson could miss. With only two months left on the calendar, a fractured forearm could be a season-ending injury. At the very least, it’s likely to keep the young shortstop out until September, though it remains a possibility that this is as minor as the wrist fracture Corbin Carroll suffered earlier this year, which only kept him out for two weeks. Regardless, it’s surely disappointing for Wilson that his fracture went undiagnosed for so long. Per Gallegos, he will be shut down from baseball activities for the time being, and the A’s will presumably provide some sort of timeline for his return in the coming days.

Needless to say, this is a tough blow for Wilson and a big loss for the Athletics. That said, it’s not as if the A’s have any dreams of contending for a playoff spot this season, so they have no reason to rush Wilson back onto the field, and this shouldn’t have much of an impact on their trade deadline plans. While Wilson is out, they can give the shortstop job to Max Schuemann, and Hernaiz will get a chance to show what he can do in a utility role off the bench.

Latest On Athletics’ Deadline Plans

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The Athletics entered this season with their first significant offseason expenditures in years under their belt. Since leaving Oakland, the club has not only extended Brent Rooker but also traded for Jeffrey Springs and signed both Luis Severino and Jose Leclerc to significant deals. Unfortunately, those moves haven’t helped the club get back into contention. Now the 46-63 A’s are one of the deadline’s most obvious sellers, and most of those offseason additions are going right back onto the market. Leclerc underwent shoulder surgery this month and won’t be a factor this trade season, but both Springs and Severino are known to be available, among other pieces.

While both Severino and Springs can be had in trade, it’s an open question as to whether or not either player will move. Both are in the midst of lackluster seasons, and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reported recently that the A’s aren’t viewed by rival clubs as willing to retain a large portion of any contracts on their books if moved. Severino is set to make $25MM in 2026 with a $22MM player option for the 2027 season, while Springs will make $10.5MM next season with a $15MM club option for 2027.

Both of those contracts are clearly underwater given the hurlers’ respective performances. Severino has a lackluster 4.95 ERA (84 ERA+) in 22 starts this year, and while there are some positive signs like a more respectable 4.21 FIP and his solid road splits (3.03 ERA away from Sutter Health Park), a 16.7% strikeout rate is very concerning. Springs, meanwhile, has a solid enough 4.13 ERA (100 ERA+) that comes with very worrying peripherals. An 18.9% strikeout rate is quite low, and while some of his home run problems can be blamed on his home ballpark his home run rate isn’t far out of line with his career norms. Springs’s 4.70 FIP is a bottom-15 figure among pitchers with at least 100 innings of work this year, and his 4.55 SIERA (17th worst) is not much more impressive.

Perhaps there’s a team out there desperate enough for pitching help that they’d be willing to take on an underwater contract in order to avoid parting with prospect capital, but such a situation seems unlikely. Of the two starters, Springs seems more likely to move given his previous experience as a reliever, better on-paper results, and much less onerous contract. If Severino is to be dealt without the A’s parting with salary, he’d likely need to be attached to another player and even then would likely bring back a minimal return.

Expensive pitchers aren’t the club’s only trade chips, however. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reported earlier today that Miguel Andujar is drawing interest from multiple teams this summer. A pending free agent, Andujar has primarily split time between third base and left field this year. He’s a fairly reliable bet to offer league-average production at the plate, as his .296/.323/.395 (96 wRC+) slash line this year isn’t all that different from his .276/.308/.428 (101 wRC+) career slash line or the .282/.318/.398 (101 wRC+) slash line he’s posted across 163 games since the start of the 2023 season.

It seems unlikely that Andujar would bring back an especially significant return given his league average offense and rough defensive metrics (-7 Outs Above Average this season). Even so, he could be a useful bench bat or depth piece for a team in need of help at any of the infield or outfield corners given his experience at all four positions, though his lackluster defense means he likely profiles best as a DH. The Cubs, Brewers,  Reds, Rangers, and Royals are among the many teams who could use a right-handed hitter who could pitch in at one or more of the corner positions.

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