**4.** [**Mason Miller**](https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/_/id/4730225/mason-miller)**, RHP,** [**San Diego Padres**](https://www.espn.com/mlb/team/_/name/sd/san-diego-padres)

**Chance of being traded**: 40%  
**Rest-of-season impact**: High  
**Years of control:** Three more years after 2026

**The buzz:** Less than a year after giving up one of the top prospects in baseball in shortstop Leo De Vries to acquire Miller, the Padres are considering moving him. They would love to attach [Xander Bogaerts](https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/_/id/31606/xander-bogaerts)' onerous contract to any trade, but that would severely limit their return and, frankly, nobody's going to take it. That leaves the Padres in a position to dangle the best reliever in baseball and see what kind of bites they get. There will be plenty. Miller is a true game changer, the king of the ninth, and with even the best teams always in need of another lockdown reliever, Miller's status will run parallel with the Padres'. If they don't turn things around soon, he could be an ex-Padre by Aug. 3.

**The scouting report:** If you've watched baseball this year, you're aware of Miller's incredible performance (near the top of historical lists in ERA, ERA estimators, WAR, strikeout rate, etc.) and have a pretty good idea why what he does is working. The basic version is he throws really hard (101.3 mph on average for his four-seam fastball) and that arm speed makes his power sweeper even harder to hit.

That's true, but also, both are helped by Miller's big extension (80th percentile in baseball at 6.8 feet, which helps his fastball shape), his supinator bias (i.e., he naturally cuts all of his pitches), and his command (strong given his outlier velocity). Add all of those traits together with being a late bloomer from a small college, and you have the model teams are following now as they look for hidden gems outside of the top few rounds of the draft.

**Best fits:** Yankees, Mariners, Phillies, Brewers, Pirates, Rays

[Passan] A new top 100 trade candidates, with Mason Miller, Shea Langeliers, Zach Neto, Hunter Goodman, Francisco Lindor and Kevin Gausman joining. Fresh info on likelihood of the best players going, too.