The Athletics traded Mason Miller and J.P. Sears to the San Diego Padres for one of Major League Baseball’s top prospects, Leo De Vries, the teams announced on Thursday, hours before the trade deadline.
Miller, 26, set an A’s rookie record last season with 28 saves and was named an American League All-Star. This season, he’s posted a 3.76 ERA while collecting 20 saves in 38 relief appearances.
The hard-throwing right-hander is expected to bolster the Padres’ bullpen, which leads all of MLB with 36 saves and already has three All-Stars in Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez.
The A’s are also sending left-handed starter Sears to the Padres. Sears has a 4.95 ERA with a 7-9 record for the A’s. He’s allowed the second-most home runs in the majors but has not missed a start in the last three seasons.
In return, the A’s are getting 18-year-old shortstop De Vries, the Padres’ top prospect and third overall prospect in MLB, according to MLB.com.
So far in 2025, De Vries has batted .245 with 8 home runs and 46 RBI for the High-A Fort Wayne Tin Caps. The switch-hitter played in the Futures Game earlier this month and has played in 157 professional games in two seasons.
De Vries has only played shortstop, a position where Jacob Wilson just became the second rookie to start an All-Star game at.
Along with De Vries, the A’s are getting some young right-handed arms in Henry Baez, Braden Nett and Eduarniel Núñez.
Nett was ranked as the Padres’ third-best prospect, posting a 3.39 ERA in 17 starts for Double-A San Antonio this season. The 23-year-old has a career 3.78 ERA in 182.2 innings with 209 strikeouts in the minors.
Baez was ranked 13th in the Padres system with a 4-2 record, 1.96 ERA in 20 starts this season. The 22-year-old earned the Padres’ minor league pitcher of the year award last year.
Núñez is the only player the A’s are receiving to see big league action this year. He appeared in four games for San Diego when he allowed two runs on four hits and four walks across 4.2 innings. Across Double-A and Triple-A this season, he’s thrown 35 innings, striking out 56 batters and collecting seven saves.
Brandon DownsBrandon Downs is a digital content producer at CBS Sacramento.
