The San Diego Padres on Thursday acquired hard-throwing closer Mason Miller and left-hander J.P. Sears in a deal with the Oakland Athletics, adding major upgrades to their pitching staff in a trade deadline blockbuster.
The Padres gave up an impressive package of prospects, sending highly regarded shortstop Leo de Vries, and right-handed pitchers Henry Baez, Braden Nett and Eduarniel Nunez to the A’s.
San Diego general manager A.J. Preller was his usual aggressive self at the deadline, trading a big chunk of his thin farm system’s best talent to acquire Miller, one of the majors’ most dynamic relievers, and dependable starter Sears.
Photo: AP
The Padres entered Thursday in the National League’s final wild-card spot at 60-49 after sweeping the New York Mets on Wednesday for their fifth consecutive win overall. San Diego trailed defending World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers (63-46) by just three games in the NL West and Preller clearly believes that his veteran core has World Series potential.
The 26-year-old Miller has 20 saves in 23 opportunities, a 3.76 ERA and 59 strikeouts for the A’s this season. He was an All-Star last year and is under team control through the 2029 season.
San Diego already had one of the majors’ best bullpens anchored by two All-Stars: closer Robert Suarez and setup man Jason Adam.
Photo: Steven Bisig / Imagn Images
Suarez, who leads the majors with 30 saves, featured in trade rumors throughout last month because he can reach free agency this winter.
However, Preller paid a hefty price for Miller: The 18-year-old De Vries is one of the highest-rated prospects in the MLB — ranked No. 3 by MLB.com — and the jewel of a San Diego farm system depleted by years of Preller’s aggressive dealing.
The switch-hitting De Vries, who spent this season at High-A Fort Wayne after the Padres signed him out of the Dominican Republic in January last year, pairs exceptional plate discipline and the potential to develop significant power with above-average fielding talent.
Baez and Nett are also solid prospects with major-league potential, while Nunez made his major-league debut with four appearances for the Padres last month.
Sears will be an option for the San Diego rotation, particularly if Preller decides to deal inconsistent right-hander Dylan Cease, who is also to hit free agency this winter.
The 29-year-old Sears is 7-9 with a 4.95 ERA this season, striking out 95 batters over 22 starts.
On the field, Cal Raleigh homered, rookie Cole Young also went deep and George Kirby pitched six strong innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 6-0 in Seattle.
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Marcell Ozuna’s sacrifice fly drove in Matt Olson with the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as the visiting Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-11.
In New York, Ben Rice hit a three-run homer in the second inning after Giancarlo Stanton blasted a two-run shot in the first as the New York Yankees raced out to a seven-run lead and recorded a 7-4 victory over the sliding Tampa Bay Rays.
Additional reporting by Reuters
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Kite-surfing fabrics, car tires and shortened shoelaces helped Kenyan Sabastian Sawe and Adidas crack the two-hour marathon barrier. When Sawe on Sunday shattered one of athletics’ most elusive barriers in storming to victory at the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 30 seconds, it did not come from just physiology and grit, but from design choices drawn from far beyond the course. Sawe debuted Adidas’ lightest-ever racing shoe, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. “It starts with the mentality of the athlete, the coach, and the team behind the product, which is: What can we do better? What is the 1 percent
RSS