As the trade landscape continues to evolve, more players are surfacing as potential trade chips while teams reassess their positions in the standings. One such team is the Athletics, and one name drawing increasing interest is hard-throwing closer Mason Miller. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the A’s have been targeting teams with premium young pitching in their conversations about Miller. Whether they can strike a deal that meets their demands remains uncertain.
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The 25-year-old flamethrower is leading the league with an average fastball velocity of 101.2 mph. He’s struck out nearly 40% of the batters he’s faced, holds the top swing-and-miss rate in the majors at 42.8%, and has converted 20 of 23 save opportunities. Even amid the A’s organizational turbulence, Miller continues to showcase elite-level dominance, and he’s under team control through four more seasons.
The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies are involved in talks. The New York Mets, whose farm system arguably has more high-upside arms than the Yankees, have emerged as another contender in the Miller sweepstakes.
On the other hand, the Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly steering clear of the top tier of the relief market, which includes names like Miller and the Minnesota Twins’ Jhoan Duran, according to Rosenthal. The Athletics are at least open to discussions, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. However, the price tag is unsurprisingly high; league sources indicate that any legitimate offer will need to be built around a top-25 prospect.
The Mets, actively searching for bullpen help, are one of the few clubs with both the financial flexibility and prospect capital to get a deal done. They have attractive arms, such as Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong, that could help facilitate a potential move if they deem Miller enough of an asset to part with one of their top prospects. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns seems to have a plan for reshaping the bullpen, which has struggled to find consistent late-inning options beyond closer Edwin Díaz.
The Mets have also been previously connected to closers Ryan Helsley and the aforementioned Duran.
They’ve already started the process by acquiring Gregory Soto from the Baltimore Orioles, but they still need more depth. The bullpen has been hit hard, with A.J. Minter, Dedniel Núñez, Danny Young, and Max Kranick all out for the year, leaving the team stretched thin and in need of reinforcements.
