Latest Mason Miller Trade Rumors Link Padres Closer to NL Contender, Reveal Price

Five months after giving up a huge cache of players to acquire Mason Miller, the San Diego Padres are at least fielding interest in their star closer.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network, the New York Mets are among many teams making inquiries to the Padres about Miller.

Heyman added the Padres will listen to any potential offers that might come in, but they "love" Miller and "would need to be overwhelmed" to move him.

The Padres pulled off one of the most surprising deals prior to the July 31 trade deadline when they landed Miller from the Athletics. It cost them four prospects, including Leo De Vries when he was ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect by MLB.com.

Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported at the time of the trade the Padres considered the idea of stretching out Miller to be a starter in 2026.

Padres manager Craig Stammen said this week during the winter meetings that likely won't happen because they want to keep the bullpen as a strength for the team.

There have been a lot of questions about San Diego's spending level going into next season. Chairman John Seidler recently addressed the issue with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, saying he anticipates they will be right around the $223 million mark they were at in 2025.

Trading Miller wouldn't have much of an impact on the Padres' finances since he is entering his first season of arbitration and projected to make $3.3 million. The right-hander would likely be able to bring back a significant return in a trade because he is under team control through 2029.

The Mets are in the market for an impact late-inning reliever after losing Edwin Díaz in free agency. They did add Devin Williams to be their closer, but their bullpen still finished 15th in MLB in ERA last season with Díaz being lights out at the end of games.

Miller was incredible for the Padres after the trade with 0.77 ERA, 45 strikeouts and seven hits allowed in 23.1 innings. He has a 2.81 career ERA and 246 strikeouts over 160.0 innings in 125 games since making his MLB debut in 2023.