Padres' monster deal for Mason Miller has rival execs jealous they missed out

AJ Preller turned plenty of heads before the 2025 trade deadline. There is absolutely no denying that. The Padres President of Baseball Operations went all in on the Friars this season, hoping that his several acquisitions prove to finally be enough for a World Series appearance.

Perhaps Preller's most glamorous addition was getting star reliever Mason Miller, who is as good as it gets in several pitching metrics. While Preller did a fine job putting San Diego in a winning position this year, could he still have gotten more?

Part of the Padres' trade deadline chaos was giving away top prospect Leo De Vries, who is the No. 3 overall minor leaguer in the sport. A player of that aptitude costs a pretty penny, and apparently, Preller could have gotten a bigger treasure chest in return for De Vries than just Mason Miller.

Padres may have missed the boat on a better return for top prospect Leo De Vries

"I'm so pissed we didn't get De Vries," one evaluator said on ESPN. "They got De Vries for a guy who pitches one inning at a time," another lamented.

Those are pretty strong words for legue executives, and now, Padres fans are wondering who else they could have received rather than just Miller and fellow Athletics pitcher JP Sears, who has already been optioned to Triple-A.

To be fair, it's not like Miller is some random reliever. He's clearly the most sought-out bullpen arm of the future, and he could be the centerpiece of the relief staff for several years to come. No pressure on Miller at all, though.

That still may not be enough to justify giving away De Vries, but Preller is getting antsy for a Padres championship. He has already dished out dozens of future MLB stars in return for rentals or other pieces to bolster a win-now roster. Those moves did not pan out, but Mason Miller is as sure of a top-end pitcher as baseball fans will find right now.

Hopefully, this acquisition pays off, and Preller does not regret trading De Vries.