Should the Padres Trade Mason Miller, Ty France and More? The Case for Buying, Selling or Both

Gotta sell.

No, wait, gotta buy.

Hold it. Back to selling.

No way! Gotta buy!

It’s been a wild few weeks for the San Diego Padres and their long-suffering fans — albeit suffering with craft beers and Cardiff crack nachos at home games — as the ballclub has veered from the brink of total insignificance back to pushing for a wild-card spot.

That’s fueled tons of speculation about what president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is going to do at the trade deadline, which is 3 p.m. PT on Monday.

Preller has never been afraid to go all-in, although this year is different. He ravaged the farm system last year while making several trades, only to watch his weak-hitting team flame out in three games against the Chicago Cubs in a wild-card series.

And then there’s the matter of new ownership. The sale from the Seidler brothers to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones for an MLB-record $3.9 billion has been finalized but is awaiting approval by MLB. Who knows what Preller’s hearing from his current bosses, and perhaps from his future bosses, on how long his leash is for wheeling and dealing.

Whatever it is, he will no doubt take a spectacular swing at something, even if it’s a whiff.

So what’s it going to be? Buy? Sell? Both?

In Preller’s world, nobody knows except him and his inner circle. And he’s the kind of guy who could push it right up until 2:59:59 p.m. on Monday, just because.

Anyway, it’s been a crazy two weeks, as crazy as it can be going 7-6 after the All-Star break.

Padres fans had to have been thrilled on July 15, the day after the All-Star Game, when MLB.com sent out this notification: “The rumor mill is buzzing. Is your team eyeing Mason Miller? Are Tarik Skubal suitors emerging?”

That’s right, Miller had higher billing than Skubal.

What does it all mean?

Who knows.

But here’s a look at the three Padres most often mentioned in trade rumors, and the pros and cons of trading them.

Mason Miller

Pros: The Padres could expect a big haul for The Reaper, who is the best closer in baseball, with 28 saves, a 0.89 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 45.2 innings. Also important to potential buyers: He’s under control for three more seasons.

Cons: If the Padres are to maintain a serious push for October, they’ll need Miller, obtained during a flurry of trades at last year’s deadline for a high cost that included top prospect Leo De Vries. Plus, there are those aforementioned three years of club control. Also, they’d lose the coolest closer entrance since the last coolest closer entrance, when the lights go out and Miller jogs in to Korn’s “Blind.” Padres fans aren’t as bad as Dodgers fans when it comes to dashing for the exits well before the final out. But they do know that once Miller’s on the mound, they should at least get ready to make that surge toward the parking lot or their favorite trolley station.

Adrian Morejon

The Padres aren’t likely to deal both of their best relievers, but if they keep Miller, they might deal the lefty-throwing Morejon for a good return.

Pros: Morejon, an All-Star last year, is 8-2 with a 3.14 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 57.1 innings and could be the best reliever dealt, thus fetching a strong return.

Cons: The Padres would lose their high-leverage lefty.

Ty France

France has been traded at the deadline three times in his eight-year career, including from San Diego to Seattle midway through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He was traded from Minnesota to Toronto at last year’s deadline, and appeared in his first World Series. He rejoined the Padres as a free agent during spring training.

Pros: France could be in the demand for a team looking for a power-hitting first baseman. He has 16 homers, second on the Padres behind Manny Machado’s 23, and an .870 OPS in 83 games.

Cons: The Padres would lose one of the spark plugs in an offense that has struggled much of the season. Plus, he’s well-known locally for being an #Aztec4Life who played for the late, great Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at San Diego State.

Bonus: Michael King

He’s gotten some mention as a possible trade piece, but he’s also the most consistent guy in a beleaguered rotation, so why go there?

So What Will the Padres Do?

The Padres have fattened up with a three-game sweep at Miami and a two-game home sweep of lowly Colorado to pop one game above .500.

More importantly, they enter the final weekend before the trade deadline two games out of the third wild-card spot. (A gentle reminder that the Padres had a one-half game lead in the NL West after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 18, but lost it the next night and began a descent into a double-digit deficit).

San Diego now has three more games at home against the San Francisco Giants, who are 15 games under .500 and 22 games behind the Dodgers.

On Monday night, they’ll start a four-game series at NL West rival Arizona, which could have massive implications in the wild-card chase, since the Diamondbacks are tied with Philadelphia, just ahead of the Padres.

First pitch is at 5:40 p.m. PT, not quite three hours after the deadline.

By then, Preller will have done his part to cast his team’s fate in stone. By buying. Or selling. Or both.

There’s still plenty of time for Padres fans to fret. But at least they drink and eat merrily while waiting it out.

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