Leo De Vries Gets Honest About Facing Padres After Shocking Trade Away

Athletics shortstop Leo De Vries was honest about how he felt facing his former team, the San Diego Padres, in spring training after being traded away last summer.

De Vries, San Diego's No. 1 prospect at the time of the trade, was poised to be a generational Padres star alongside the greats, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. Every Padres fan knew his name and were patiently waiting for the shortstop to make his debut with San Diego.

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That all changed last July when president of baseball operations A.J. Preller orchestrated the trade of the deadline to acquire Mason Miller from the Athletics.

Miller was the crown jewel of the relief market last summer and every team around the league wanted the highly-touted reliever. Preller managed to swing a trade for Miller with the return package featuring De Vries and three other prospects.

The trade was shocking given De Vries was rated as the No. 3 overall prospect in baseball and the Padres had sent him away.

Now, the 19-year-old is donning a different uniform.

De Vries faced the Padres for the first time since the trade this spring in Arizona.

“A lot of emotions,” De Vries told MLB.com in Spanish. “To share the field with my ex-team and a lot of my former teammates was special.

“Honestly, I couldn’t really grasp the magnitude of it when I first stepped on the field, but once the game started, I started to grasp it more and was talking with a lot of them over there. It was really beautiful. The San Diego fans watching today left with a lot to say.”

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It was evident De Vries felt the utmost loyalty to the organization that signed him as an international free agent in 2024.

“All those guys were like brothers over there,” De Vries said. “The relationship we have is really beautiful.”

The trade is certainly one the franchise will look back on for many years to come. It remains to be seen whether the deal has panned out for the Padres, given the team fell short in the postseason following their big deadline move.

However, the 2026 season gives the Padres their next shot at winning it all — and they have arguably the best closer in baseball for at least the next few years.

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