Mason Miller

The Padres once again made the biggest splash on the relief market at the 2025 trade deadline, acquiring Miller from the Athletics. The 27-year-old brought closing experience with him to San Diego, but he recorded only two of the team's 13 saves over the final two months of the season with Robert Suarez anchoring the club in that role. With Suarez recently opting out of his contract to become a free-agent, Miller is the natural choice to slide into San Diego's closer role. However, the Padres aren't ruling out giving him an opportunity to start, particularly if they lose both Dylan Cease and Michael King in free agency. Miller has been a full-time reliever the last two seasons and has been arguably the best bullpen arm in the game during that span, collecting a 2.56 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 43.1 percent strikeout rate over 126.2 innings. Last year, his slider limited opposing hitters to a league-best .108 BAA and 54.6 percent whiff rate for that pitch type. Read Past Outlooks