Willing to trade Aidan Miller or Andrew Painter for Mason Miller?
Joe Giglio says he if he were the Phillies he would trade one of their top two prospects in 21-year-old pitcher Andrew Painter or 20-year-old third baseman Aidan Miller for Oakland A's All-Star reliever Mason Miller.
Miller, 25, shared a plane ride with the Phillies to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas for the All-Star game after the series between the A's and Phillies finished up on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park fueling speculation.
And Miller's story about Bryce Harper introducing himself on the plane just added more fuel to the fire.
In Friday's series opener against the Phillies, Miller threw 21 pitches striking out two batters and not allowing a hit, hitting 104 MPH on the pitch clock.
Miller says Harper told him after seeing him throw 104, he wanted nothing to do with facing him anymore.
With the July 30th MLB trade deadline approaching, the Phillies are reportedly in the market for a center fielder, but could also be looking to add a reliever. Heading into the All-Star break, the Phillies have three elite, reliable relief pitchers in Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, and Orion Kerkering—all of whom have sub 1.50 ERAs. Relievers like Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado have struggled of late, igniting speculation about the possibility of Dave Dombrowski adding a fourth elite bullpen option in addition to an outfielder at the deadline.
Miller is making just $740,000 in 2024. He is not arbitration eligible until 2026 and is under team control through 2029.
Miller has a 2.27 ERA in 33 games this season with 15 saves. Over 39.2 innings pitched, Miller has 70 strikeouts and just 14 walks.
The A's asking price for Miller will be steep.
"To acquire him, a team likely would need to give up a young player of comparable ability, or a substantial package of multiple youngsters who could be part of the A's future," Ken Rosenthal wrote for The Athletic back on May 9th.
Painter, the Phillies' top prospect and No. 19 on MLB Pipeline's overall list, was the franchise's 13th overall pick in 2021. He underwent Tommy John surgery last July and is continuing his rehab process, but many still consider Painter one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. Painter, who is 6'7", had a fastball that averaged 96 MPH in 2022 and touched triple digits at times to go along with a two-seam sinker, a four-seam sinker, a slider and a curve.
Aidan Miller, a right-handed hitting infielder who is MLB Pipeline's No. 27 overall ranked prospect, is slashing .275/.401/.483 with five home runs and 26 RBI in 39 games for the single-A Clearwater Threshers.
