With the Yankees looking for bullpen help prior to the trade deadline and Mason Miller’s name floating around, fans in New York have begun to picture baseball’s best closer in pinstripes.
The Yankees already have a dependable ninth-inning man in David Bednar, who they acquired last summer, but adding a pitcher of Miller’s caliber is a tantalizing idea. With a 0.86 ERA, 25 saves and a major league-leading 48.8 K% as of Wednesday and three years of club control after 2026, the fire-balling righty would allow the Yankees to shorten games this season and for years to come.
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Of course, the Padres have to be willing to deal him.
While Miller is reportedly available, that doesn’t mean he’s going to get traded. One league source said they would be surprised by a blockbuster involving the 27-year-old just because the Padres parted with a haul to get Miller from the Athletics last July. That package included shortstop Leo De Vries, who is considered the game’s second-best prospect by MLB.com.
It would be unlike Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller to sell, even with his third-place club under .500 and 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot as of Wednesday. Because Miller is still arbitration eligible – he’s making $4 million this year – he can help San Diego compete after this season on a cost-efficient salary.
However, Miller is a luxury for a scuffling team, and the source did reason that Preller’s desire to compete as quickly as possible could lead him to consider a trade if the Padres were to get big league talent – or prospects who are almost ready for the majors – in return.
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Triple-A shortstop George Lombard Jr., the Yankees’ top prospect and the 20th-best in baseball, is considered untouchable and a candidate for a near-term promotion, but the Bombers have other pieces who fit that description, especially with San Diego in need of controllable starting pitching. Such arms include Will Warren, Clarke Schmidt, Elmer Rodríguez, Carlos Lagrange and Ben Hess, and there’s also young-but-flawed outfielders Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones, the latter of which grew up near San Diego.
Other top prospects in the Yankees’ system include shortstop Dax Kilby and pitchers Bryce Cunningham, Chase Hampton, Thatcher Hurd and Henry Lalane, but none of them are quite ready for the majors and have all battled injuries.
Keep in mind, the Yankees gave up a few MLB-ready pitchers when they got one year of Juan Soto from the Padres after the 2023 season.
If the Yankees were to ship another massive package out west for Miller, they wouldn’t do so with just 2026 in mind.
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Again, Miller is under control for a while, and Bednar is headed for free agency after this season. Camilo Doval, also acquired at last year’s deadline, is the only other reliever on the team with notable closing experience and has another year of control, but he’s been so brutal that he can’t even be trusted in a mop-up role right now.
The Yankees haven’t spent significant money on a free agent relief pitcher since January 2019, so a dominant force like Miller would fit their approach to bullpen construction beautifully.
That said, the Yankees aren’t the only logical suitors for Miller. The Mariners, Pirates, Phillies and White Sox are among others who make sense. And the Yankees, whose bullpen has been better than expected, are also looking for a right-handed hitting catcher and could use another bat to supplement the injured Aaron Judge. Rotation depth wouldn’t hurt either, though the team just got Max Fried back from the IL and expects Carlos Rodón (elbow inflammation) and Schmidt (Tommy John surgery) to return this season.
With more than a few parts of their roster in need of improvement and trade chips not infinite, the Yankees will have to decide just how steep a price they’d be willing to pay for Miller when they already have a capable closer.
