Did the Padres build the best bullpen ever?
How do Mason Miller, Robert Suarez, Jason Adam, Adrían Morejón and Jeremiah Estrada stack up to some of the best bullpens of all time?
The San Diego Padres, led by ultra-aggressive general manager A.J. Preller, made the most shocking move of this year’s Trade Deadline by acquiring superstar closer Mason Miller from the Athletics in a deal centered around Leo De Vries, the 18-year-old switch-hitting shortstop and No. 3 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline.
One of the reasons this trade was so surprising is that even before acquiring Miller, the Padres already had what many considered to be the best bullpen in the sport. With their All-Star trio of closer Robert Suarez and set-up men Jason Adam and Adrían Morejón, many hypothesized that the Padres could move some of their many elite bullpen pieces to improve other areas of their roster. Instead, Preller doubled-down. What lies ahead is the potential for a truly special, dominant and potentially historic unit that has the ability to carry the Padres through October.
This leads to the question: Has Preller assembled the greatest bullpen of all time? While that may seem shocking, there is a real chance that this group can put together some historic numbers.
Here’s what the Padres bullpen has done so far this season:
First of all, they became the first bullpen in Major League Baseball history to feature three All-Stars (Suarez, Adam and Morejón). While Miller was not named an All-Star this season, he was during his rookie year last season and at just 26, projects to be named to many more Midsummer Classics. Jeremiah Estrada, who was not named an All-Star but is still one of the most effective relievers in baseball, can also not be forgotten.
Suarez has an MLB-best 32 saves. Adam has a stunning 1.86 ERA. Morejón has a 1.96 FIP and a 0.846 WHIP. Estrada has a 12.8 SO/9, good for eighth-best among relievers (Miller is second with a 14.2).
Before adding Miller, the Padres bullpen was already considered the best in baseball this season. Even though Miller’s surface level numbers this season may not be eye-popping, especially his 3.92 ERA, his advanced metrics show that he is still one of the most effective relievers in baseball. Let’s just say there is a lot of red on his Baseball Savant page.
Miller’s Fastball Velo, Whiff % and K % are in the 100th percentile. His xBA and Chase % are in the 99th. He has a 123 Stuff+, the highest in the Padres bullpen. Despite some control issues (4.4 BB/9) and a relatively high ERA, it is clear that Miller still has the ability to perform at an elite level.
The Padres are squarely in the postseason picture, currently occupying the second National League Wild Card spot and just two games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Opposing teams have to be terrified about how the Padres bullpen could operate in the postseason. Last season’s postseason hero Michael King is set to be activated from the injured list tomorrow. Nick Pivetta has been a revelation. Despite the high ERA, Dylan Cease has legit swing-and-miss stuff. Yu Darvish is working his way back. With a five-headed monster of Suarez, Miller, Adam, Morejón and Estrada, the Padres could hypothetically hand the ball over to their bullpen and shut games down in the fifth inning. That amount of high-leverage arms is truly unprecedented, and has the ability to carry this Padres team on a deep run in October.
Let’s take a look back at some other elite bullpens to see how they stack up to the post-Trade Deadline 2025 Padres.
2024 Cleveland Guardians:
While the 2024 Guardians bullpen will be most remembered for their relative lack of success in the postseason compared to the regular season, they should still be commended for how truly dominant they were. Led by Emmanuel Clase (pre-gambling accusations…), who had an unthinkable 0.66 ERA and allowed just five runs all season, the Guardians had four relievers with sub-two ERAs. Clase of course led the way, but Cade Smith (1.91), Hunter Gaddis (1.57) and Tim Herrin (1.92) were all shutting batters down as well.
Even though Clase was the only All-Star, Smith, Gaddis and Herrin all played huge roles of their own. They helped build one of the most dominant bullpens of all time, recording a team bullpen ERA of 2.47, the fourth-lowest since 1995.
2014 Kansas City Royals:
The 2014 Royals did not win the World Series, losing in heartbreaking fashion in seven games to the even-year dynasty San Francisco Giants, but their bullpen dominated throughout the regular season and the postseason. While Greg Holland was the closer with 46 saves, had a 1.44 ERA, 13.0 SO/9 was named an All-Star and finished ninth in American League Cy Young voting, Wade Davis may have been better. In a set-up role, Davis had a 1.00 ERA, 13.6 SO/9 and finished eighth in the AL Cy Young race, one spot higher than Holland. With a 1.41 ERA Kelvin Herrera was another elite option out of the bullpen for the Royals.
Despite failing to win the World Series that season, the Holland-Davis-Herrera trio was also dominant throughout the entire postseason. Holland saved seven games in 11 appearances and In a combined 40 ⅓ innings of work, the trio allowed just five earned runs, did not allow a home run and were arguably the biggest reason why the Royals were able to advance to the World Series and take the Giants to seven games.
1990 Oakland Athletics:
With Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley leading the way with arguably the greatest relief season ever, the 1990 A’s bullpen is certainly an all time group. Eckersley recorded 48 saves with a 0.61 ERA and had an other-worldly 18.25 SO/BB. In addition to Eckersley’s dominance in the ninth inning, Gene Nelson (1.57 ERA), Rick Honeycutt (2.70) and Todd Burns (2.97) also had incredible seasons. The bullpen’s overall ERA was 2.35 and the A’s had an 87-2 record while leading after seven innings.
Unfortunately, this iteration of the A’s bullpen, which had won the World Series the year before, went up against another elite bullpen from the Cincinnati Reds, nicknamed “The Nasty Boys,” and got swept. Eckersley allowed a walk-off single in Game 2 of the World Series and Burns allowed three runs in Game 1.
The 2025 Padres bullpen may be having a dominant regular season, but it does not mean anything unless they first make it to the postseason, and then, when they are there, help lead their team to a World Series. However, the framework is there for this group to go down as the best bullpen of all time. Looking at the 2024 Guardians, 2014 Royals and 1990 A’s, they are not materially better than the 2025 Padres and can not match their depth. Preller deserves a lot of credit for putting together such an incredible collection of talent and putting his team in position to compete for a World Series on the back of their bullpen.