The awful contract that could force Padres hand in possible Mason Miller trade

Mason Miller is having a tremendous season for the Padres — but one of his teammate’s contracts could cause him to get traded.While the closer has pitched a blazing 0.89 ERA from the bullpen, his teammate Xander Bogaerts is hitting just a .645 OPS and being paid handsomely to do so.Bogaerts, 33, signed an 11-year, $280 million deal with San Diego in 2022 and it’s reportedly a “foregone conclusion” that the Padres will eventually try to move on from the four-time All-Star.According to the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee, who cited anonymous sources, the possibility of moving Miller as a means of attaching Bogaerts’ contract has not been ruled out.Bogaerts, who has seen his play sharply decline in San Diego since arriving from Boston, is owed $25 million per season through 2033.Acee said that a team being willing to eat some of Bogaerts’ salary could “tip the scales” in a potential deal.Miller, meanwhile, is currently under team control for another three years after San Diego acquired him at last year’s trade deadline in a blockbuster move.The Padres haven’t played like contenders this season, though they’re not miles off of a playoff berth either.After Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Royals, San Diego is 48-49 and 3 1/2 games out of an NL Wild Card spot.Either way, the team will likely decide soon whether it wants to be a buyer or seller with the Aug.3 trade deadline looming.“Those will be conversations over the course of the next few weeks,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J.

Preller said, per the Union-Tribune.“You also have to see how the team plays, how we come out of the break and also what’s out there.We’re going to go into the process open-minded to see what’s there and see what can help our club.

We’re going to go in open-minded about whether it’s acquiring players or you know kind of looking at if we have to go another direction.I think all those things are on the table.”...