MLB Trade Rumors: A's Asking Price for Mason Miller 'Going to Be Absurd' at Deadline

Teams looking for bullpen help ahead of the trade deadline will have to pay a heavy price if they want to try getting Mason Miller from the Oakland Athletics.

One source told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Patrick Mooney and Katie Woo that Oakland's asking price for Miller is "going to be absurd."

It's hard to find a recent parallel for Miller because most teams wouldn't even be shopping a dominant closer in his rookie season who has two years remaining before becoming eligible for arbitration and is under team control through 2029.

Of course, the A's don't exactly operate like a normal team would.

The closest example was two years ago when the Milwaukee Brewers traded Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres prior to the deadline in August 2022, but even at that point he only had one full year of arbitration remaining before hitting free agency after the 2023 season.

Milwaukee was able to get Taylor Rogers, Robert Gasser, Dinelson Lamet and Esteury Ruiz in the deal. Gasser and Ruiz were top 30 prospects in the Padres' system at the time, with Gasser being the main piece of the deal as a second-round pick in the 2021 draft.

Another problem with putting a steep price on a closer is the volatile nature of relief pitching in general. Miller was developed as a starter, but moved to the bullpen late in the 2023 season after an elbow injury kept him on the injured list for four months.

Since making the move to a relief role, Miller has been as dominant as any pitcher in MLB. The 25-year-old leads all relievers in FanGraphs' wins above replacement (1.5), ranks second in strikeouts per nine innings (15.6) and owns a 2.08 ERA in 34.2 innings.

Miller's talent is unquestionably tantalizing for contending teams, but it's hard to fathom a scenario in which a club pays a steep price for a reliever. The A's have no reason to trade him right now unless they are just intent on dealing all of their good players no matter what.