Day: July 29, 2026

Here’s the thing: San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller would improve and be a fit for 29 teams. If he’s available for the right price — which figures to be a commanding one, as the star reliever is under contract through 2029 — at the MLB trade deadline, it’s more about who needs the premier reliever more and who can justify giving up a haul to do so with respect to how close they are to World Series contention. Those teams are out there, though. Granted, just one of them will end up with Miller. And with that, here are the three best trade fits for Miller. The Cubs are in the thick of things – Chicago has possession of the No. 1 National League wild-card seed at 61-46 – but they have holes on their pitching staff, and acquiring Miller would emphatically fill one of those voids. Chicago’s bullpen is tied for 22nd in opponent batting average (.247), tied for 14th in WHIP (1.31) and 14th outright in ERA (3.97). Moreover, they’ve collectively blown 17 saves, Jacob Webb leads their staff with just five saves and the Cubs have had 12 different pitchers record a save. Plug Miller in the closer role for the Cubs, and the likes of Webb, Daniel Palencia and Trent Thornton, who are all having successful 2026 campaigns, serve as the bridge to the ninth inning. Miller has been sensational for the Padres this season. The right-handed reliever is 27 for 27 in save situations, while owning an 0.81 ERA, an 0.81 WHIP, a 515 ERA+ and totaling 83 strikeouts and 2.6 wins above replacement over 44 ⅔ innings pitched. What could halt a Miller pursuit by the Cubs, though, is them potentially feeling it’s more prudent and needed to acquire a top-of-the-rotation arm before trading a considerable package for a reliever; Chicago’s starting rotation has been a roller-coaster this season. The White Sox are five wins away from matching their 2025 win total (60), as they stand atop the American League Central at 55-51. Do they make a move to fortify the late innings with the aim of complementing an emerging starting rotation (Davis Martin and Sean Burke continue to progress, with Anthony Kay emerging this season)? Now, Chicago’s bullpen has held its own, as it’s currently eighth in MLB in opponent batting average (.231), 11th in ERA (3.94) and tied for 17th in WHIP (1.32). At the same time, the White Sox have been operating on a by-committee approach in the ninth inning. Moreover, they’ve blown 20 saves, which is tied for third-most in the sport. Acquiring Miller would give the White Sox their undisputed closer, taking the burden off younger/less experienced relievers like Bryan Hudson and Grant Taylor to shut the door. Plus, veteran Seranthony Domínguez, who owns a 4.21 ERA and is 12 of 17 in save situations for Chicago, previously found more success in a setup role with the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. Miller, who leans on his slider and four-seamer, ranks in the 100th percentile of MLB in whiff rate (47.8%) and average fastball velocity (101.4 mph), the 98th percentile in opponent average exit velocity (84.9 mph) and the 97th percentile in chase rate (37.6%), according to Statcast. He has also recorded four-plus outs in six appearances. All that said, one could argue the White Sox should firmly establish themselves as a contender, rather than just an emerging force, before making a trade of this magnitude for their bullpen. For the first time in a decade, the Pittsburgh Pirates — who are one game out of the third NL wild-card seed at 55-53 — are definitively moving in the right direction and have merit to make a move to tie up a loose end. That move could be trading for Miller. For starters, the Pirates have struggled when they go to the bullpen. To date, their relief unit is 24th in ERA (4.41), tied for 23rd in WHIP (1.40) and 17th outright in opponent batting average (.241). Left-hander Gregory Soto has held his own as the team’s primary closer, but he has also blown five saves, and Pittsburgh has collectively blown 19 saves, which is tied for sixth-most in the sport. Where the logic in the Pirates trading for Miller differs from the White Sox — who are in a similar situation with being in playoff contention after a prolonged stretch of not being in that mix — is that Pittsburgh plays in a deeper and more challenging division; the NL Central has three teams with a winning record this season, whereas the AL Central has underwhelmed and sent just one team to the AL Championship Series since 2017. Elsewhere, second baseman Brandon Lowe and first baseman/right fielder Ryan O’Hearn have been impactful veteran complements, while rookie Konnor Griffin (prior to going on the injured list with a finger injury) and fellow former top-10 pick Nick Gonzales have made strides, while outfielder Bryan Reynolds is having a bounce-back season en route to Pittsburgh being second in runs scored (563) and first in hits (980). Sure, the Pirates’ starting rotation has slumped some, but Paul Skenes is the defending NL Cy Young Award winner, Mitch Keller is a proven commodity and Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and Jared Jones are still getting their feet beneath them; this is a starting staff with high-end upside. Pittsburgh could base a trade package for Miller around outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, 2025 first-rounder Seth Hernandez and right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, among other assets. You have to give to get. One could argue it’s not worth trading a trio of top-10 prospects or a similar trade package in value for a pitcher, regardless of how elite they may be, who only pitches a fraction of the innings of a starting pitcher, especially when compared to an All-Star-caliber one, based sheerly on usage. That being said, if you’re going to make such a move for a closer, Miller is on the shortlist of relievers you would do it for — and he could be what pushes the Pirates into the playoffs for the first time since 2015.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

CHICAGO — With pen in hand and talking points rehearsed, new Penn State head coach Matt Campbell introduced himself to the Big Ten and the throngs of reporters attending the conference’s annual media days event in a manner that mimicked his polished predecessor, James Franklin. Campbell’s handy writing utensil provided a callback to Franklin taking notes during weekly news conferences in the Lasch Building. His reverence for Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi and athletics director Pat Kraft could have been cut and pasted from any number of Franklin’s comments in recent years. As could Campbell’s line about the Nittany Lions’ continuing to lead with “character, integrity, class and excellence,” all while chasing the program’s first national championship since 1986. But if everything unfolds according to plan — if Kraft gets validated for dismissing Franklin last October, less than a year removed from reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals, before hiring Campbell in December — then the similarities between his new coach and his old one must stop with their public personas. Campbell is tasked with nudging Penn State over the line Franklin failed to reach at a time when several Big Ten rivals have entrenched themselves atop college football. So for Campbell and Penn State, the Big Ten Media Days represent a comparison between Campbell’s perceived ability to do more with less at Iowa State, and Franklin’s perennial struggle to convert high-end resources into signature wins; between a regime that always seemed to shy away from heightened expectations — especially in public settings like this one — and a group that is now speaking openly about contending for a national title this fall. “If we were ever going to leave Iowa State,” Campbell said, “it was going to have to be a school and an institution that really fit how I believe and what I believe [is the right way to] build culture, how you build a team and how you build forward. I think for the last six months, we’ve been reminded why it was such a great fit for us at Penn State.” The Nittany Lions contention hopes this fall originate with the players’ unwavering belief in Campbell, starting with quarterback Rocco Becht, who followed Campbell from Iowa State. On Tuesday, Becht compared Campbell to Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti when asked to predict the immediate impact he expects from the new staff. When Cignetti jumped from James Madison to IU ahead of the 2024 season, he added more than 30 players via the transfer portal, including 10 who had started for the Dukes. Campbell signed 24 former Iowa State players in a 39-man transfer class, tied for the sixth-largest haul in the country and second-biggest in the Big Ten behind UCLA. Becht described Penn State’s group of former Cyclones as “some of the best players that we had at Iowa State,” a place where Campbell won 19 games over the previous two seasons and reached the Big 12 title game in 2024. Since arriving at Penn State, which lost 18 of 22 starters from last year’s team, those who followed Campbell have become invaluable conduits between the coaching staff and the holdovers from Franklin’s roster who remained with the program. “We’re able to help the transition with other players,” Becht, one of three players representing Penn State, said on Tuesday. “We’re able to help lay that foundation that Coach Campbell wants to build. We won games at Iowa State. Building that over here, we just have the same mindset [while] blending in with the Penn State players. We just want to win, no matter what it looks like.” Campbell, 46, is a consistent winner. Beginning in 2012, he led three nine-win campaigns in four full seasons at Toledo, the last of which earned him MAC Coach of the Year. Then he took home the same award from the Big 12 three times in his first five years at Iowa State. Campbell’s name almost always circulated when marquee jobs became available in college and the NFL. His four wins against top-10 opponents — the same number Franklin amassed in more than twice as many attempts — helped that case. Almost immediately, the former Cyclones who transferred to Penn State offered a discrepancy in Campbell’s approach to the high-leverage moments that eroded Franklin’s standing with the fan base. The Iowa State transfers said Campbell believed a team should prepare the same way each week, regardless of whether the opponent was ranked or winless. The Penn State holdovers described Franklin’s tendency to add more walk-throughs, meetings and details for players to memorize when facing elite competition. Their nerves tightened. “It would be more draining toward us,” Rojas said. “And I think Coach Campbell is going to do a great job, you know, just treating each game like it should be, treating each game opponent like any other. So yeah, I think it was a thing [we struggled with]. But that’s something that we’re going to overcome this year.” Becht, a three-year starter at Iowa State, will be heavily leaned upon as a leader. Entering the 2026 season with more career victories (26) than any active FBS quarterback, he embodies Campbell’s system. Becht became a unifying force for a roster in flux this past winter, lobbying prospective teammates considering a transfer to remain at Penn State. He helped form a group chat with more than three dozen players designed to outline the team’s goals this fall. The expectation, they said, is to win at the highest level. And Campbell is the reason for their confidence. “Being around that guy for four years now,” Becht said, “what he’s been able to build culturally, the standards that he’s been able to build, the expectations that he has for his players, it’s something that I really wanted to be a part of for my last year because we have a special relationship. “And I wanted to bring it somewhere else, I wanted to have a reset, and blending that with Penn State’s rich history — the historic program that it is — is something that I’m super excited to be part of now.” Life after Franklin has begun.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports