While contenders scrambled to add stars at the 2025 trade deadline, the Athletics may have made the boldest move of all. The A's traded dominant closer Mason Miller and left-hander JP Sears to the Padres for a prospect package headlined by 18-year-old Leo De Vries. The return also included right-handed pitching prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez, and Eduarniel Núñez.
Athletics Trade for Leo De Vries Might Be the Deadline’s Biggest Win originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
While contenders scrambled to add stars at the 2025 trade deadline, the Athletics may have made the boldest move of all. Their deal with the San Diego Padres could shape the future of their franchise for years to come.
The A's traded dominant closer Mason Miller and left-hander JP Sears to the Padres for a prospect package headlined by 18-year-old Leo De Vries. He is ranked No. 3 on MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospect list. The return also included right-handed pitching prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez, and Eduarniel Núñez.
It is the kind of move that rarely happens in today's game. ESPN's Jeff Passan called it the sort of trade that baseball doesn't see as often anymore.
“Plenty of impact players moved to contenders at this year’s deadline,” Passan wrote. “So for the A’s to be the big winners took the sort of trade that almost never gets made anymore.”
De Vries had been considered off-limits by San Diego. But three days before the deadline, Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller opened the door by expressing a willingness to move him. The Athletics jumped at the opportunity.
De Vries has held his own in High-A as a teenager and could reach the majors before his 21st birthday. Whether he sticks at shortstop or shifts to third base, he adds to a growing young core that already includes Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, and others.
Executives around the league were stunned.
“I’m so pissed we didn’t get De Vries,” one evaluator told Passan. Another added, “They got De Vries for a guy who pitches one inning at a time.”
Passan compared the deal to the 2016 blockbuster that sent Yoán Moncada, then baseball’s top prospect, to the White Sox for Chris Sale, a perennial Cy Young candidate.
Miller has been dominant, but he is a reliever. If Leo De Vries lives up to his potential, this could be one of the most significant trades of the decade.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
