The awful contract that could force Padres’ hand in possible Mason Miller trade

Mason Miller is having a tremendous season for the Padres — but one of his teammate’s contracts could cause him to get traded.

While the closer has pitched a blazing 0.89 ERA from the bullpen, his teammate Xander Bogaerts is hitting just a .645 OPS and being paid handsomely to do so.

Bogaerts, 33, signed an 11-year, $280 million deal with San Diego in 2022 and it’s reportedly a “foregone conclusion” that the Padres will eventually try to move on from the four-time All-Star.

Padres closer Mason Miller could be traded at the deadline as a means of moving Xander Bogaerts’ contract AP Photo/Matt Rourke

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee, who cited anonymous sources, the possibility of moving Miller as a means of attaching Bogaerts’ contract has not been ruled out.

Bogaerts, who has seen his play sharply decline in San Diego since arriving from Boston, is owed $25 million per season through 2033.

Acee said that a team being willing to eat some of Bogaerts’ salary could “tip the scales” in a potential deal.

Miller, meanwhile, is currently under team control for another three years after San Diego acquired him at last year’s trade deadline in a blockbuster move.

The Padres haven’t played like contenders this season, though they’re not miles off of a playoff berth either.

Xander Bogaerts’ contract has not aged well at all for the Padres. Getty Images

After Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Royals, San Diego is 48-49 and 3 1/2 games out of an NL Wild Card spot.

Either way, the team will likely decide soon whether it wants to be a buyer or seller with the Aug. 3 trade deadline looming.

“Those will be conversations over the course of the next few weeks,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said, per the Union-Tribune.

“You also have to see how the team plays, how we come out of the break and also what’s out there. We’re going to go into the process open-minded to see what’s there and see what can help our club. We’re going to go in open-minded about whether it’s acquiring players or you know kind of looking at if we have to go another direction. I think all those things are on the table.”