Mason Miller was Available Last Year. So Why isn’t he a Dodger?

SAN DIEGO, CA— The Dodgers wanted bullpen assist ultimately summer time’s commerce deadline. Mason Miller was sitting there in Sacramento, throwing 101, lacking bats at a cartoonish charge, and searching just like the uncommon reliever who may change the form of October. The Padres bought him. The Dodgers didn’t. And now seeing him dominate as a nearer for the Friars whereas the Dodgers’ deadline pickup Brock Stewart languishes on the IL makes one a little envious of what the Padres have and what the Dodgers positively do NOT have. And with new highly-priced nearer Edwin Diaz on the shelf for a lot of the season, it is simple to begin kicking your self.

Miller in San Diego is sort of frankly, awe-inspiring. Dude is closing video games for the Padres, popping out to that banger track from Korn, and searching like one of the vital terrifying ninth-inning arms in baseball. He had 14 saves, a 0.86 ERA, a 0.762 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 21 innings getting into the weekend, based on Baseball Reference. He additionally picked up his 14th save Friday night time in Seattle, getting the ultimate 4 outs in a 2-0 Padres win.

So sure, Dodgers followers can take a look at that and surprise.

What would it not have price?

Then comes the grown-up a part of the dialog: what would it not have price?

San Diego did not get Miller at a low cost. The Padres acquired Miller and left-hander JP Sears from the Athletics for shortstop Leo De Vries and three right-handed pitchers: Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Núñez. MLB Pipeline ranked De Vries because the No. 3 general prospect in baseball on the time. Nett was San Diego’s No. 3 prospect, Baez was No. 13, and Núñez was No. 17. (MLB.com)

That is the half that issues most right here. This was not a “should the Dodgers have thrown in one more mid-level prospect?” state of affairs. This was a monster package deal constructed round the most effective prospects within the sport. Athletics basic supervisor David Forst mentioned the talks bought severe solely when the Padres grew to become open to together with De Vries. In his phrases, “In Mason’s case, we knew it was going to take something special.”

For the Dodgers, that’s precisely the type of deal Andrew Friedman has skilled himself to not chase emotionally.

Friedman’s rationalization

After final yr’s deadline, Friedman advised Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic that the Dodgers weren’t sitting round kicking themselves over offers they failed to complete.

“We don’t live like that,” Friedman mentioned when pressed if he had any regrets in regards to the Dodgers’ final deadline haul. “There’s deals that we thought made sense for us we pursued hard. It’s not like we had the potential to do a deal where we were like, ‘No’ and now we wish we would have. It’s always that balance. Lining up on a trade is hard. We feel good about the work we put in and the group that we have.”

Miller Takes an Average Padre Team to Another Level

Miller is making the Padres look awfully good within the current. He opened 2026 with one of many wildest aid runs possible. In April, MLB.com famous that Miller had prolonged his scoreless streak to 32 2/3 innings, one inning shy of Clare Meredith‘s Padres franchise file. At that time, he had confronted 38 hitters on the season and struck out 27 of them, a 71.1 p.c strikeout charge that MLB.com reported was the very best by any pitcher via his first 11 appearances of a season since no less than 1900. (MLB.com)

That is absurd. That’s online game stuff. That is the type of nearer who makes a nine-inning sport really feel like an eight-inning sport.

Fernando Tatis Jr. summed it up completely after one other Miller save in Anaheim.

“Game over.”

2026 Parents have a stacked pen

The Friars already had a good bullpen, however Miller on the again finish modified the entire temper of a shut sport. Adrian Morejon and Jason Adam can work in entrance of him. Jeremiah Estrada can return from damage and deepen the group. With Miller looming, the Padres have constructed the type of late-game construction that makes each one-run lead really feel heavier.

From a Dodgers fan’s view, that’s annoying. It is meant to be annoying. The Padres paid a premium worth to make the late innings depressing for everybody else within the division.

But that does not imply the Dodgers made the incorrect resolution. Relievers are probably the most unstable forex in baseball. Just ask Craig Kimbrel. Or Kenley Jansen. Or 2025 Tanner Scott. Miller is likely to be a particular case as a result of his stuff is so overwhelming and his staff management runs via 2029, however he continues to be a spotlight. He continues to be a pitcher whose worth is available in quick bursts. He continues to be a energy arm with a well being historical past. FanGraphs made that actual pressure clear on the time, noting Miller’s elite stuff whereas additionally mentioning the large alternative price of giving up a prospect like De Vries for a bullpen arm.

That is the place Friedman’s quote lands.

“We don’t live like that.”

That line isn’t a dodge. It is the philosophy. The Dodgers don’t construct their roster round deadline remorse. They pursue offers they consider make sense, weigh the fee, and stay with the end result. Sometimes which means watching one other staff get the shiny object. Sometimes that shiny object turns into a flamethrower who’s mowing down the league in a Padres uniform.

The tougher query is whether or not the Dodgers ought to have stretched past their consolation zone as a result of Miller was that good.

The reply nonetheless comes again to cost.

If Sacramento (nonetheless feels bizarre saying that) required De Vries from San Diego, the Dodgers have been most likely taking a look at a package deal that will have began with one of the vital priceless items in their very own system and stored going from there. A headliner alone wouldn’t have completed it. The A’s bought a top-three general prospect and three arms. That is the type of package deal that may reshape a farm system. It would possibly place the A’s to be aggressive for the subsequent decade. For a nearer, even an outrageous one, that’s a franchise-level guess.

Padres stay in a different way than the Dodgers. AJ Preller has at all times been extra keen to push prospects into the center of the desk. Sometimes it burns him. Pieces that he gave up for a yr and a half of Juan Soto they’re thriving within the massive leagues. But typically that riverboat gambler mentality creates precisely this sort of payoff. Miller is giving San Diego all the pieces he hoped for after which some. He is electrical, he is controllable, and he is popping Padres wins into very quick nights as soon as the ninth inning arrives.

The Dodgers’ Approach

The Dodgers, in the meantime, function with a longer reminiscence. And a totally different set of priorities. Andrew Friedman has mentioned prior to now how he would not prefer to overpay for property, and on the deadline, you’re virtually at all times overpaying. The staff values ​​the deadline, but it surely additionally values ​​flexibility. The Dodgers need the younger gamers. They need the subsequent commerce chip. They need the subsequent wave that enables them to maintain successful with out having to empty the system each July.

That strategy could be irritating in the mean time. Dodgers followers have watched sufficient October bullpen chaos to know the worth of yet another monster arm. Miller would look improbable in Dodger blue. Nobody must fake in any other case.

Wanting the participant and wanting the commerce are two various things.

The Padres bought a nearer who is likely to be on their technique to a historic season. They additionally paid like a staff that understood there was no cheaper path to get him. The Dodgers noticed the identical market, did the identical math, and stayed away from a deal that will have required a painful prospect sacrifice for a aid.

Miller might hold making that call sting each time he slams the door in San Diego.

Friedman’s level is that the Dodgers can not run their entrance workplace by chasing that feeling. They make their name primarily based on price, danger and match. The Padres made theirs primarily based on urgency and influence.

San Diego Will be a Tough Out in the event that they Get a Lead

Right now, San Diego is having fun with the payoff. For the Dodgers, the query isn’t whether or not Mason Miller is nice. He clearly is. The query is whether or not greatness within the ninth inning was definitely worth the type of prospect package deal the A’s demanded.

Last summer time, the Dodgers determined the value was too excessive. Even with Miller wanting like a monster, it’s onerous to say they have been incorrect. But 104 coming down the throats of opposing hitters could be fairly good in October.

So, the decision for this week’s sequence in San Diego? Get Ahead and Stay Ahead. Cuz you ain’t coming again in opposition to this beast.

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