NEW YORK — The Yankees sent two major-league scouts to Kansas City this weekend, and they were not there for the Royals. They went to watch a pitcher wearing the other uniform.
What they saw was the kind of performance that starts a bidding war. In one inning, the target loaded the bases with nobody out and then walked off the mound untouched.
Three hitters. Three strikeouts. Eleven pitches. A fastball that touched 103 mph.
The scouts were tracking players who could move before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. One name towered over the rest.
The Yankees are preparing to chase San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller, and for the first time the idea looks less like a fantasy than a plan. Rival executives now believe the Padres will move the game’s best reliever, and scouts told reporters the Yankees have the pieces to win the auction.
Why the Padres might actually sell
Miller has been the most dominant closer in baseball this season. He carries a 0.89 ERA with 25 saves, 75 strikeouts and 14 walks across 40 2/3 innings.
The Padres sit near .500 and outside the National League’s final wild-card spot after dropping games in Kansas City. That standing has changed the math on a pitcher San Diego gave up a fortune to acquire only a year ago.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported over the weekend that front offices around the league expect Miller to be dealt.
“Rival executives are convinced the Padres will be motivated to sell and buy at the same time, and will move All-Star closer Mason Miller,” Nightengale wrote.
The leverage cuts both ways. Miller is not eligible for free agency until after the 2029 season, so the Padres are under no pressure to give him away. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller will decide whether the closer, who turns 28 on Aug. 24, becomes available at all.
What scouts say a deal would cost
The Yankees were outbid for Miller last summer, when the Padres landed him from the Athletics in a package built around teenage shortstop Leo De Vries, now the No. 2 prospect in baseball. Four veteran scouts, granted anonymity by NJ.com because they are not permitted to discuss other teams’ players, laid out what a second run at Miller might take.
One National League scout said the Yankees can construct a package, but not a painless one. He framed the cost as the price of doing business at the top of the market.
“The Yankees have enough pieces to make the trade. Will it hurt their farm system and potentially cost them a Will Warren? Yeah,” the scout said.
The sticking point is top prospect George Lombard Jr., the Triple-A shortstop the Yankees are believed to consider untouchable. One American League scout said keeping Lombard forces New York to give up from its big-league roster instead.
“I’m not giving up Lombard because he’s my shortstop at some point, so you’re probably going to have to give up someone on your big-league roster to be the signature part of a trade,” the scout said.
A second NL scout warned that a bidding war could push the price back toward Lombard no matter what the Yankees prefer.
“There’s no doubt that you’re going to pay through the nose for Mason Miller,” the scout said.
The pieces New York can move
The names most often floated start with right-hander Will Warren, a controllable big-league starter who could lose his rotation spot once Carlos Rodon and Max Fried are healthy. Scouts see him as a logical centerpiece, similar to the young, controllable arm the Yankees once used to headline the Juan Soto trade.
From there, the packages fill out with upper-level pitching. Elmer Rodriguez, who has already made big-league starts this season, and hard-throwing prospect Carlos Lagrange are the arms most mentioned, though Lagrange was recently shut down with a shoulder issue.
Outfielders Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones have also come up, though scouts said their trade value has slipped. One AL scout was blunt about how the market now views the Yankees’ once-prized young talent.
“I feel like Cashman held on to guys too long. Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez don’t have the value they once did,” the scout said.
Whether the Yankees even need him
New York already owns the lowest bullpen ERA in the majors and a standout closer in David Bednar, who has been nearly untouchable since a rough start to the year. That depth is why some see Miller as a luxury rather than a need.
The scouts who study the roster do not see it that way. One AL scout argued that adding Miller would let the Yankees shorten games by pushing Bednar to the eighth inning.
“If you’ve got a lead going into the ninth inning and Miller comes in the game, you’re winning,” the scout said.
The same scout tied the urgency to the Yankees’ aging core and their thin recent October history with Aaron Judge, who is 34.
“If you add Miller, this could be the year the Yankees win it. Why wouldn’t you go out and get that lock closer?” the scout said.
The Yankees enter the week at 55-44 and chasing in the AL East, with a rotation that projects as a strength once healthy. Whether Cashman meets Preller’s asking price will define their deadline, and the scouting reports are already filed.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
