A’s Rebuffing Trade Interest In Mason Miller

The Athletics are lined up to be sellers at the deadline, but their July 31 moves won’t extend to a certain long-term closer.  Mason Miller appears to be more or less untouchable, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the A’s are telling interested teams that the reliever isn’t available in trade talks.

While things could conceivably change if a particular club makes an outsized offer, it makes sense that the A’s have no interest in moving Miller, who is under team control through the 2029 season.  The right-hander has yet to even reach salary arbitration, though he’ll hit that milestone a year early since Miller is on pace to easily qualify for Super Two status.  This means he’ll gain four years of arbitration eligibility instead of the usual three.

Since traditional counting statistics are weighed more heavily in arbitration cases than more advanced analytics, a closer who racks up big save totals can put himself in line for some increasingly hefty paydays through the arb process.  As such, Miller stands to cash in given that that he already posted 47 saves (out of 53 chances) over his three MLB seasons.  While this rising price tag might make the Athletics more open to dealing Miller at some point during his arbitration years, there isn’t any urgency for the A’s to make a move just yet, even if he has been whispered in trade speculation for over a year.

[Related: Athletics Trade Deadline Outlook, for MLBTR Front Office subscribers]

After making his big league debut in 2023, Miller was installed as the Athletics’ closer at the start of the 2024 campaign and he essentially hasn’t looked back.  The righty has a 3.22 ERA and a stunning 37.5% strikeout rate over 134 career innings, with an average fastball velocity of 100.2mph.  That high-octane fastball is paired with an 87.2mph slider that has been one of the more effective pitchers in baseball over the last two seasons.  Control is a question mark, as Miller’s below-average walk rate in 2024 has sunk to a troubling 12% in 2025.

Between this control issue and the general volatility of relief pitching, an argument can be made that the A’s would be well served to sell high on Miller while he is at peak trade value.  Miller dealt with some early-career injuries that necessitated his move from starting pitching to the bullpen in the first place, so this health history is another reason the front office could reasonably consider a trade at some point.

On the flip side, the Athletics have shown indications that they’re ready to end their rebuild, even if their results in 2025 have been disappointing.  The club locked up Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker to long-term extensions this past spring, and signed Luis Severino to a team-record $67MM free agent deal this past offseason.  This counts as a massive spending splurge by the Athletics’ traditionally low-spending standards, though it appears as though their extension discussions didn’t extend to Miller, who said in mid-March that the club had yet to broach the subject of a long-term extension.  Some sort of multi-year agreement might be a wise move for the A’s to gain some cost certainty through Miller’s arbitration years, even if the club might be hesitate about a commitment beyond the 2029 campaign.