Former GM proposes insane Phillies prospect trade ideas for Mason Miller

The Philadelphia Phillies may have the best record in baseball currently, but the success has overshadowed an area of weakness some may not realize. That weakness is the performance of their relief corps.

Heading into action on Saturday, the Phillies bullpen had blown eight saves this season. It ranks 20th in the league in ERA (4.12), 17th in WHIP (1.32), 24th in opponents batting average (.246), and 20th in strikeouts (169). As a result, they would surely welcome help to bolster their relief arms.

One of the best and rapidly growing relievers in the game is Oakland Athletics closer Mason Miller, who undoubtedly would significantly impact the Phillies.

We here at That Ball's Outta Here recently suggested a fair trade package for Miller after news came out that the A's were listening to offers for the 25-year-old fireballer.

Former GM proposes insane Phillies prospect trade ideas for Mason Miller

Former MLB GM Jim Bowden, now of The Athletic, knowing that the Athletics are asking a steep price, came up with possible trade ideas that are quite insane (subscription required), at least from the Phillies’ perspective.

When asked by a reader about what a package from the Phillies would look like to obtain Miller from Oakland, Bowden suggested that they would need to give up their top positional prospect Aidan Miller, plus one of their top pitching prospects, Mick Abel or Andrew Painter. So, not only will it require the Phillies' No. 2 prospect as per MLB Pipeline, but also their No. 1 or No. 3 prospect?

If we were talking about a bonafide MLB superstar or a player with an established proven track record, then maybe the Phillies could think about it. But to give up two of their top three prospects for a player that isn’t at the level of Shohei Ohtani or Ronald Acuña Jr.? No way.

After all, Aidan Miller might be one of the most-hyped infield prospects for the Phillies since Chase Utley. On top of that, both Abel and Painter are thought to be the future front-end of the rotation starters for the Phillies. That's despite Abel enduring some struggles in 2024 and Painter currently recovering from Tommy John surgery.

With respect to Mason Miller, it was just last season when he was still sporting an ERA of 3.78 with a 1.20 WHIP over 10 games as both a starter and a reliever. More notably, he surrendered runs in three of his four relief appearances.

This season, he has pitched in 18 games, posting his stellar 1.96 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with 10 saves.

More importantly, Mason Miller has never pitched more than 33 1/3 major league innings in a season in his short career. So before everyone anoints him the next Mariano Rivera, we should wait and see how well he does once his workload increases and whether or not his dominance and velocity hold up.

Even then, if Miller does maintain solid numbers and the Phillies want to explore trading for his services, a package involving one of their top three prospects plus some lower prospects would be considered a more realistic deal. Otherwise, no deal!