Padres’ Mason Miller Knew He Wouldn’t Close the All-Star Game. His Reaction Says a Lot.

The All-Star Game is supposed to be a showcase for the game’s best. But for Mason Miller, the ninth inning was never really his to have. And he was fine with that before he even got to Arlington.

According to The Athletic’s Katie Woo, the American League coaching staff had a pretty clear plan for the save situation. They knew the crowd in Texas would want to see local favorite Jhoan Duran close it out. Miller, making his second All-Star appearance, saw it coming.

“I was expecting him for the ninth,” Miller told Dodgers assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness. “It doesn’t bother me at all.”

That kind of honesty is refreshing. But it also fits where Miller’s head is at right now. The Padres reliever is having an elite season — 2.15 ERA, 15.1 strikeouts per nine innings — and the trade rumors are getting louder by the day. San Diego is sitting at 48-48 after a rough June, 12.5 games back in the NL West. They’re not catching the Dodgers. And when a team with a top-tier closer isn’t winning games, that closer becomes a very valuable trade chip.

Why trading Miller makes too much sense

The Padres didn’t just stumble into Miller. They gave up a huge piece to get him last year — minor league shortstop Leo De Vries, who’s now the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball. That trade was built for a World Series push that never materialized. Now the front office has to decide whether to hold or deal.

Trading Miller won’t bring back someone like De Vries. That kind of prospect isn’t walking through the door. But the Padres need to at least see what’s out there. A solid All-Star appearance, even without the save, only helps his value.

The stuff is real

People who’ve faced him this season back that up. “He throws ghostballs,” Reds All-Star infielder Sal Stewart told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “You go up there and kind of are just swinging and hoping it hits your barrel. He’s at another level.”

Ghostballs or not, Miller’s trade value is real. And the Padres have a choice to make. Keep the closer they don’t really need right now, or flip him for pieces that could help when they’re actually competing again. Miller, for his part, seems unbothered either way. He didn’t need the ninth inning at the All-Star Game. He might not need a ninth inning in San Diego much longer either.