Padres-A's blockbuster may have given Astros perfect bullpen trade target

The baseball world was floored on Thursday morning when the San Diego Padres pulled off the biggest blockbuster trade of the deadline after acquiring pitchers Mason Miller and JP Sears from the Athletics.

The cost, as expected, was steep. The Padres had to surrender their top prospect Leo De Vries and three others just to get the deal done. But this is the aggressive nature of Padres' GM A.J. Preller, and props to him for getting the deal done. That move, however, could be the opening the Houston Astros needed in order to pick up the phone themselves and give Preller a call.

With the acquisition of Miller — and assuming a world where San Diego doesn't immediately attempt to convert him into a starter (which could happen) — the Padres could now make closer Robert Suarez available in trade talks ahead of the deadline. It appears as though the Astros are involved in the brewing bidding war.

Astros could swoop in and trade for Robert Suarez after blockbuster Mason Miller trade

You can never have enough bullpen help for the stretch run and Suarez is one of the better relievers available on the trade market this year. Given that he holds a player-option for next season at a low $8 million, most agree that he will decline it, meaning that that he's essentially a pending free agent.

For the Astros, such a trade makes a lot of sense. It would give the backend of the Houston bullpen — Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader — some help in the late innings. There are some rumors, however, that contradict Olney's reporting. Some insider are saying that the Padres won't trade Suarez even after the Miller trade. That seems a bit dubious, but trading for Miller is an all-in type of move, and there's no predicting what Preller has up his sleeve.

At the moment, you can probably project Houston to spend most of their time hunting for a bat ahead of the deadline and/or perhaps swing a big trade for a starter. Nevertheless, GM Dana Brown is likely to have a lot of contingencies in place and Suarez appears to be on their radar for sure.

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