Padres Considering Mason Miller Trade to Shed Xander Bogaerts' Contract: Report

As Major League Baseball's trade deadline draws closer, the noise around the San Diego Padres trading star closer Mason Miller has grown louder.

Given where the team is in the standings (48-49 and 3.5 games back of the final wild-card spot in the National League), moving Miller could make sense to address some of the farm system problems that the Padres have. Miller is not only the best reliever in baseball, but he has three more years of team control on his contract, which would help net the Padres a strong return.

The Miller situation is one of the more interesting ones that the Padres are facing over the next two weeks, with there not being an easy answer. The Padres also have some financial questions, even with the new ownership group taking over.

San Diego has multiple players under expensive long-term contracts, adding more wonder to how the new owners will handle payroll. But it seems that the team could combine the two problems to solve the issue.

According to Padres insider Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune, team officials are at least weighing moving Miller in a larger deal to help the team get off the salary of infielder Xander Bogaerts.

After the conclusion of the 2026 season, Bogaerts still has seven years left on the 11-year, $280 million deal he signed before 2023. The 33-year-old is owed $25.4 million each season.

"One question being kicked around at Petco Park is whether moving Miller as part of a package that includes Bogaerts is a proposition too beneficial to pass up," Acee wrote. "It is practically a foregone conclusion that the Padres will eventually find a way to get out from under a portion of the $25 million they owe their underperforming 33-year-old shortstop each of the next seven seasons.

"If someone were willing to take on some of Bogaerts’ salary — and Bogaerts waived his no-trade clause — it might tip the scales."

Losing Miller to get rid of Bogaerts's deal would be a tough pill to swallow, but it could help the Padres have much more flexibility moving forward. Miller has been the best relief pitcher in the game this season, posting an ERA of 0.89.

When Bogaerts was originally signed, the move was met with a ton of optimism. But his performance in the three-plus seasons he's spent with the Padres hasn't lived up to the hype.

Before coming to the Padres, Bogaerts made four All-Star teams with the Boston Red Sox. But with San Diego, the veteran has struggled to find his footing in the second half of his career.

This year, Bogaerts has hit .224 with nine home runs, 38 RBIs and an OPS of .645. His time with the Padres hasn't gone well, and his contract is a problem for the future of this club, especially with the talk of a salary cap possibly coming to baseball.

The Padres' brass has some big questions to answer ahead of the trade deadline, and the moves made this summer could impact how the roster is structured multiple seasons down the line.

While it seems the unlikely the Padres are able to get out of Bogaerts' contract this early in the deal, it is at least something being discussed at this point in the year.

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