Fresh off winning the American League East in 2023 with 101 wins, the Baltimore Orioles are trending in the same direction in 2024. They enter May 10 games with a 24-12 record and a 0.5-game lead over the New York Yankees for first place. Could Baltimore reinforce its bullpen before the trade deadline by making a massive splash for Oakland Athletics closer Mason Miller?
The A’s have performed better than expected thus far in 2024. They’re 18-21 and only four games behind the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West. However, they’re still open to hearing trade proposals from interested teams, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
That includes Miller, who boasts a 1.10 ERA and 55.0% strikeout rate with his 101.2 mph fastball in 16.1 innings. The hard-throwing right-hander is only making $740,000 in 2024 and won’t be arbitration-eligible until 2026. So, Oakland’s asking price will be steep.
“No team has come close to meeting the A’s price, according to a team source. Perhaps no team will,” Rosenthal said. “Miller, 25, is not only Oakland’s best young player, but also their best player, period. 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.”
Rosenthal provided a couple of hypothetical scenarios that might be appealing to Oakland. Using the Orioles as one example, he mentioned infielder Coby Mayo and outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. Both are among the Orioles’ top five prospects in 2024, per MLB.com.
Miller Would Transform the Orioles’ Bullpen
The Orioles signed 35-year-old veteran Craig Kimbrel to a one-year, $13 million deal this past offseason. His tenure in Baltimore has gotten off to a rocky start.
Kimbrel’s strikeout rate is 35.6% through 13.1 innings. That’s higher than in 2023 with the Philadelphia Phillies (33.8% in 69 innings). However, his walk rate has spiked from 10.1% to 15.3%, while his ERA has gone from 3.26 to 4.73.
It probably doesn’t help that his average fastball velocity is down a couple of ticks. According to FanGraphs, that number settled in at 96 mph in 2023 but is currently 94.4 mph with the Orioles.
Baltimore’s current bullpen ERA is 3.51, per FanGraphs. That’s the 11th-best mark in baseball. However, a contending team like the Orioles could have major problems down the stretch and in the postseason if Kimbrel can’t be trusted to lock down the ninth inning consistently.
Adding Miller would make what’s been an overall solid group of hurlers even stronger while preparing to make a deep run into October.
This Would Also Be Huge for Baltimore’s Bullpen Beyond 2024
If the Orioles can convince Oakland to let Miller go and are willing to give up the prospects to make it happen, their late-inning relief situation could be among baseball’s best in 2025 and beyond.
As mentioned previously, Miller isn’t even arbitration-eligible until 2026. The 25-year-old also isn’t scheduled to hit free agency until 2030. Injured reliever Felix Bautista is expected to return in 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and a right elbow debridement/ulnar nerve transposition procedure in recent months.
The 28-year-old was dominant in 2023 before hitting the injured list. He struck out 46.4% of batters faced while racking up 33 saves with a 1.48 ERA, all of which led to 2.8 fWAR in 61 innings pitched.
Bautista isn’t eligible for arbitration until 2026 and won’t reach free agency until 2028. So if Miller landed in Baltimore and they both stayed healthy, this move could have a significant impact well beyond 2024.
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