Pirates suddenly look brilliant for passing on Mason Miller

For weeks leading up to the trade deadline, Mason Miller looked like exactly the kind of player the Pittsburgh Pirates should be willing to get uncomfortable for.

Pittsburgh was even reportedly among the three top suitors for the Padres closer, alongside the Mariners and Yankees. But acquiring Miller, who is under team control through 2029, was always going to require a massive prospect package.

A few weeks later, the Pirates might be thrilled they kept their prospects. As it turns out, they already had a Mason at home.

The irony was impossible to miss Tuesday night at Petco Park. Miller entered the ninth inning having gone 76 2/3 consecutive innings without surrendering a home run, the longest active streak in baseball. Then Oneil Cruz launched one into the seats, giving Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.

And when the Pirates needed somebody to protect that lead? Mason Montgomery did exactly what Miller couldn't. He walked one but struck out two in a hitless ninth inning to earn his sixth save, extending his scoreless streak to 11.1 innings.

Montgomery has struck out 22 hitters and walked just three during that stretch. For the season, he owns a 3.19 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 87:22 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 53.2 innings.

Mason Montgomery's emergence validates Pirates' restraint in Mason Miller trade deadline sweepstakes

No, this isn't an argument that Montgomery is literally Miller (or even better). Miller is one of baseball's most overpowering relievers, a two-time All-Star capable of making elite hitters look helpless. There's a reason San Diego's asking price was enormous.

That's also precisely the point. The Pirates didn't need to spend an enormous amount of prospect capital to acquire an elite closer because they may have been developing their own long-term answer in plain sight.

This Pirates team has enough holes that surrendering premium young talent for a reliever — even one as dominant and controllable as Miller — was always going to be difficult to justify. A closer can make a good team terrifying, but he can't fix an offense by himself.

Montgomery's emergence changes the equation even more. Pittsburgh can enter the offseason knowing the ninth inning might already belong to a 25-year-old left-hander striking out hitters at an absurd rate, without having sacrificed anybody from its young core to get him.

Tuesday offered the perfect visual representation of why restraint sometimes wins at the trade deadline. The superstar closer the Pirates didn't acquire gave up the decisive home run, while the closer they already had finished the game.

Turns out the Pirates didn't need Mason Miller. They needed Mason Montgomery.

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