Padres’ A.J. Preller Explains Breakup With No. 1 Prospect In Mason Miller Trade

The San Diego Padres had to pay a steep price to acquire closer Mason Miller from the Athletics, but general manager A.J. Preller was happy to pay it.

On a trade deadline day on which the Padres overhauled their entire roster, the blockbuster to land Miller and starting pitcher J.P. Sears was the easy headliner. That’s as much about who they gave up as it is who they got.

In the deal, which included four prospects heading to the A’s, the Padres gave up Leo DeVries, the 18-year-old shortstop who MLB Pipeline currently rates as the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball.

Miller undoubtedly makes the Padres better, as do Sears, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Nestor Cortes, and Freddy Fermin. But giving up DeVries is a huge risk, and general manager A.J. Preller knows it.

“He was asked about in every deal,” Preller said of De Vries, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “He’s a really good player. He’s a tremendous prospect. We weren’t going to do it unless we got the right fit, the right pieces.”

The Padres got 4 1/2 years of control over Miller and 3 1/2 over Sears. But DeVries could be a superstar for at least six years with the A’s, and that’s not even factoring in the other three prospects the Padres gave up, two of whom joined DeVries on MLB Pipeline’s top 10 A’s prospects list.

But Preller was willing to justify paying that price, and much more in other trades, to give Padres fans what they’ve spent over five decades waiting to see.

“The expectation with this group is always to go win a ring, go win a championship,” Preller said, per Cassavell. “That’s the goal.”

After another blitzkrieg at the deadline, we’ll see if this if finally Preller’s year.

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