The Padres’ top priority this offseason is to fill a starting rotation facing the loss of Yu Darvish to an internal brace procedure, and the possible losses of Dylan Cease and Michael King in free agency.
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The most intriguing possibility lies not in the free agent market, or in a trade, but with an internal option.
Mason Miller, an All-Star closer in 2024 with the Oakland A’s, the Padres’ prize addition at the trade deadline on July 31, hasn’t shut the door on closing — at least if you ask new manager Craig Stammen and president of baseball operations AJ Preller.
However, former Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden told Foul Territory that Miller has already made his feelings about starting abundantly clear.
“I remember talking to Mason Miller during the All-Star Game, not this year but the year before in Texas,” Bowden said. “I asked him about starting, and he basically said that he wanted to close. He doesn’t want to start. He tried that and it didn’t really work.
“I said, ‘yeah but you didn’t give it enough time. You have the stuff. There’s no doubt in my mind you could develop into an ace, a number-1 starter.'”
Added Bowden: “I think if I had Mason Miller and I was AJ Preller and Craig Stammen, I would be doing everything possible to try to convince him to start and develop, because I do believe he could become that ace. But you have to keep in mind that if the pitcher doesn’t want to do it, a lot of times it won’t work.”
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Against this backdrop, Stammen — a former relief pitcher himself — didn’t dismiss the possibility in a recent interview with MLB Network.
Mason Miller the starting pitcher?!
Padres manager Craig Stammen shares insight into the possibility. https://t.co/G3qLyDfYUl pic.twitter.com/VUDh5OeYuE
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) November 11, 2025
“[Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon] will be a big part of our team this year,” Stammen told Brian Kenny. “I don’t know if they’re going to be starting, relieving, closing, but they’re going to be a big part of our success and they’re going to pitch as many innings as we can get them to pitch.”
However, Bowden said that Stammen told him more recently that he’s planning to use Miller as a “high-leverage, late-inning reliever.”
Miller, 27, has 50 saves and a 2.81 ERA since his debut with the A’s in 2023. In 22 regular-season games with the Padres after the trade, Miller struck out 45 of the 83 batters he faced, posting a 0.77 ERA. The right-hander struck out eight of the nine batters he faced in the Padres’ Wild Card series against the Chicago Cubs.
As for Bowden, he doesn’t begrudge Stammen and Preller for trying to convert Miller to fill their rotation holes.
“As a former GM and evaluator, Mason Miller would be a starting pitcher if I had a say to it,” Bowden said.
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