The San Diego Padres start trade deadline day by surprising baseball. General manager AJ Preller traded the Padres’ top-rated prospect, shortstop Leodalis De Vries, to the A’s to acquire left-handed starter JP Sears and high-leverage reliever Mason Miller.
Preller also parted with highly regarded pitchers Braden Nett, Henry Baez, and Eduarniel Núñez in order to secure two pitchers who will fortify both the rotation and the bullpen for this season and the future.
Miller, 26 years old, was drafted by
the A’s in 2021 and made his major league debut in 2023. He currently has 20 saves and a 3.76 ERA for the A’s. He features a four-seam fastball that reaches 101 mph, a slider, and a changeup. There has been some thought that he could also be developed as a starter. He is arbitration-eligible next season but not a free agent until 2030.
Lefty starter Sears, 29 years old, has a 7-9 record and a 4.95 ERA in 111 innings pitched this season for the A’s. Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2017, Sears was acquired by the A’s from the Yankees in 2022. He is arbitration-eligible next season and a free agent in 2029. He features a four-seam fastball that tops out at 93 mph, a sweeper, a changeup, a slider, and a sinker. He adds a left-handed starter to a righty-heavy rotation and should slot in after whoever ends up being the top two or three pitchers in the rotation.
The cost for quality pitching is high in MLB, and the Padres parted with their top-rated prospect as well as three other pitchers who appear to be close to their major league debuts. It shows that Preller is not satisfied with the quality of the Padres’ pitching in the minors and values controllable, proven talent.
De Vries is 18 years old and has the potential to become a superstar in baseball. Parting with De Vries has been avoided by Preller in the past, but this move could signal that the organization is going all in on a playoff run in 2025.
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