I keep going back to Mason Miller because the numbers Adam Kug and I dug up before the show are genuinely insane. This year his ERA+ is 458. For context, 100 is league average. I did not know a number could even get that high.

Compare that to the greatest closers ever. Mariano Rivera’s career ERA+ was 205, and his best single season was 316. Trevor Hoffman’s career mark was 141, his best season 265. Mason Miller is blowing both of those guys out of the water, and it’s not close. His own numbers with the Padres last year were a 550 ERA+, this year 458. That’s the best two seasons he’s ever had, probably the best two seasons he’s ever going to have.

That’s exactly why his trade value is at its absolute peak right now, and exactly why I still don’t want him traded. You don’t trade for a generational talent one year and then trade him away the next. He’s a unicorn, and his value is tied directly to how this team plays the rest of the way. They finished the first half 48-48, which isn’t good enough for a wild card spot, so the pressure’s on. AJ Preller says he’s open to anything at the deadline. I’m just hoping the team plays well enough that it never has to come to that.