Yes, Bobby Miller had a bad 2024, and has not exactly started 2025 the way either LAD or himself were hoping for. His trade value is negligible right now. Some fans believe the Dodgers held on to Miller too long. While I concur that his trade value is marginal at best, I do not think the Dodgers had an opportunity to max out on his value. They were not going to trade him after his 2023 season. He was hurt in 2024 too much of the year so that teams were not eager to trade for him and give the Dodgers what they may have wanted.
IMO, the best thing to do with Miller is to keep pitching him. He is up to 91 pitches, which was just a tick above 18 pitches/inning. In the PCL, that may not be something to get overly excited about, but it really is not that bad. Early April and Miller reached 91 pitches? This is the time of year that Miller is sitting due to shoulder fatigue, so it is positive that he is pitching.
I have read from some critics that the Dodgers should have traded Miller after 2023. After 2023, the Dodgers did not have a veteran SP they could count on. Kershaw just had shoulder surgery and was not going to be ready until later in the season. They did not know whether Walker Buehler could make it back. Both Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin were not going to be available until July at the earliest for May, and maybe not at all for Gonsolin.
The Dodgers decided to trade one of the kids (Ryan Pepiot) to get a veteran pitcher with huge upside and significant health risk…Tyler Glasnow. They signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a $325MM deal believing that he could effectively transition to MLB, but not knowing. They signed James Paxton believing he could eat innings.
With what they had, I think they went into ST believing that Miller and Emmet Sheehan were going to be #4 or #5, with Gavin Stone available. Why would the Dodgers trade Miller with all of the questions they had, and acknowledging that Miller was pretty darn good as a Rookie in 2023?
Too answer the question, IMO, the Dodgers have not held onto Bobby Miller too long. There is no urgency to trade him.
Diego Cartaya is/was a different situation. For several years, the Dodgers already had Will Smith in LA, and Will was quickly becoming a fixture behind the dish. Dalton Rushing was just drafted in 2022. They might have traded Cartaya as they did Keibert Ruiz at the proverbial height of his trade value. AF/BG could have maxed his value after 2022. What might the Dodgers received in return for a package of Cartaya and Maddux Bruns after 2022? Instead they have probably lost any trade value for either player.
Jeren Kendall? Kody Hoese? Maddux Bruns? All first round picks who had trade value at some point. Kendall has retired. Hoese is coming to the end of his time in the Dodgers organization. He will become a free agent at the end of the year unless the Dodgers purchase his contract. Very doubtful? Bruns still has not even cracked the AA roster, and he is once again on the 60 day IL.
Did the Dodgers wait too long on Miguel Vargas? AF/BG believed in him, so I do not believe so. He was so productive in MiLB, but it just has not carried over to MLB. Maybe it still will, like it seemingly has for Keibert Ruiz. Vargas is still only 25 years old.
The Dodgers maxed the trade value for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, and Connor Wong when they traded them for Mookie and David Price.
The Dodgers maxed out the value with Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray in the trade with Washington for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner.
It sure appears that the Dodgers may have maxed out their trade value with Michael Busch in the trade with the Cubs for Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope.
IMO, the biggest threat/risk to lose potential trade value is Dalton Rushing. He could be at the height of his trade value right now. He has no position with LAD in the near future. He is not going to start at catcher with Smith there. And the Dodgers did not commit $140MM to Smith so he could share the position. Dalton is not going to play 1B with Freddie. LF? Teoscar is in RF for 2025-2027. I am not confident that Rushing’s bat is better than Conforto’s. Next year?
There is little question that the Dodgers hold onto their top draft picks. Too long? Maybe, maybe not. It is hard to argue with the success of the Dodgers. Nevertheless it is still curious.
A look at another team for a different perspective.
Jarred Kelenic was a 1st round pick by NYM in 2018 (#6 overall). In December 2018, Seattle traded Kelenic and 4 other inauspicious players to NYM for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano. Kelenic reached Top 100 status in 2019, his 1st full year in professional baseball. NYM maxed out the trade value for Kelenic. Diaz has been an elite closer for several years. Certainly a better option than Kelenic.
While the jury is still out because Pete Crow-Armstrong still needs to prove he is a MLB player, NYM thought they maxed out their trade value for PCA. PCA was the Mets 2020 1st round pick (#19 overall). Although that 2021 trade did not work out nearly as well as the Kelenic trade. NYM was hoping for a much better Javy Baez. He started out well when he first joined the team. But that did not carry over to 2022 and beyond.
Prospects are suspects until proven.
I am still confident that Miller will turn around and play dividends with the Dodgers . Either on our roster or as a trade chip.Stuff is just too good.
His last outing was not good but as in his first start he showed what made him so good in 2023.
Bad loss again yesterday. Again the error bug bit the team.
Mookie IMHO is not SS on a championship team. First the fielding error and then the bad throw to home which should have easily gotten the runner. He just does not look comfortable there.
So many batting averages under the Mendoza line, some even under .100.
Will be interesting how long the Dodgers can carry on like that.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Miller. I think it’s possible he gets it together. The Dodgers could use him, that’s for sure. They are already calling on their 4-A staff. That sure didn’t take long.
It’s been said before and I’ll say it again, this team needs to hit its way to a Division title. And having 5 guys in the box score OPS’n ,533 and under will likely not get it done. It’s way early, it’s cold and damp on the east coast, so maybe when they get home they can get it going.
My opinion – Edman looks like he can play center but middle infield needs help. You know what I would do. And teams are gonna run on us. Asking pitchers to help won’t work as they can’t hold runners like they usta could. Smith is having difficulty throwing and when he does throw accurately middle infielders aren’t helping much. Maybe it gets better when it warms up. Hope so.
I know it is early, but I’m seeing in Mookie at SS was what I feared seeing in Mookie at SS (no excuses Bear Please, it is what it is). Something has to give, the left side of the infield is in really a disaster, not to mention that the offense from Max is nearly non-existent. We could use a healthy Freddie back in there, even an unhealthy Freddie would be an upgrade on the offense.
is every loss a bad loss?
when do the posts about grit, chemistry and body language start?
I agree that when Miller’s trade value was at its highest we needed him too much to trade him. So we can only hope he turns things around so that he might be a valuable trade chip in the future. I still would rather keep Stone, Ryan and Ferris over Miller, long term.
I’d love to know what Rushing’s value is on the trade market because I think we need to plan for a new third baseman in the next year or two. I think that’s more important than finding a new center fielder because we could plug in a defense- first guy there if necessary. And I’m still not convinced that Freeland is going to be an answer, no matter where they would want to play him.
I don’t practice Santeria
I ain’t got no crystal ball
I would hope Miller could find it again. When he is right, he can be dominant. He showed that last season in his first start against the Cardinals. I went back and watched that game again. The next start, he couldn’t find the plate.
Did the Dodgers wait too long to trade Bobby Miller?
I guess that depends on what the return might have been.
In the right deal, sure, deal him. No reason to cling to Miller when young guys like Gavin Stone and Sheehan and Jackson Ferris were stepping up–and you were counting on scoring Sasaki too. And May and Gonsolin coming back from injury… Oh, and that Ohtani guy…
I wanted to deal Miller to the O’s or Yankees or ?? for premium position prospect in part because of the Dodgers pitching depth.
Yet now Snell is already hurt and both Knack and Wrobo have been summoned.
I expect Miller will get his turn too.
He was impressive as a rookie. He can still get it together.
Comets playing early today. Frasso is pitching. Kim is playing CF and leading off. Kim CF, Freeland SS, Rushing C, Rosario LF, Outman RF, Ward 1B, Chavis DH, Hoese 3B, Gauthier 2B.
Miller and Outman could be “change of scenery” bets. Both excelled in ’23, then slumped badly.
OK, here’s the deal: Miller + Outman for the O’s Cedric Mullins, a pending free agent.
A few years back, Mullins was a brighter star for the O’s but he’s been eclipsed by Gunner, Rutschman, Holliday and others. He’s a solid and sometimes spectacular CF who would enable Edman to play 2B.
Not a “wow” move, but Mullins could stabilize CF and be the “second leadoff” man.
*Too many middle infield bobbles for my money. Mookie got eaten up on a hard long hop, which was a hit, but he didn’t look particularly sharp on and the after Miggy’s missed backhand up the middle, he made a poor throw to the plate.
*Miggy looks to have a new glove that looks stiff. The backhand didn’t stay in the pocket.
*Both Mookie and Miggy can’t seem to pick a short-hop on steal attempts. Those are not great throws by Will but if you miss, you miss to the first base side with a short hop. But both guys look foreign to picking & tagging. They are both better than they played yesterday.
*Badger and I had this discussion awhile back; it looks like the Dodger pitchers make NO attempt to slide step, vary their moves, or quick pitch to hold runners. It looks like they just pitch and aren’t bothered by steals. Just out-slug the opposition and don’t worry about it. Will and Barnes have no shot most of the time.
* CT3 made a great throw to get a runner at 3rd.
*Kike is doing an admirable job at first, filling in for Freddie, but he ain’t Freddie. He made one play close on the ball by May, fielded by Miggy. Kike made it close by NOT stepping toward the throw on his stretch. He stepped one way and caught the throw the other way.
Just not clean defense.
*On the other side, DeJong and Alex Call looked like all-stars defensively.
*May got better as the game went on. He struggled through 3 and held the Nats to 3 runs. I was pleasantly surprised to see Doc live him in after his nice 5th inning and I’m glad he did. May had great last 3 innings with 9 up, 9 down. Nice to see.
I’m seeing a disturbing trend with Dodger pitching, including May early.
Most people claim that the best pitch in baseball is Strike One. My philosophy has always been a little different. While I value Strike One, to me the most IMPORTANT pitch is on one and one.
The reason is statically the difference between and 2 and 1 count and a 1 and 2 count is about 150 points in batting average. So I want to see the pitcher’s best pitch that day in 1 & 1 counts to get an out or get ahead. Especially the first time through. Yesterday May stayed with uncompetitive breaking balls and got too many two and one, disadvantage counts. He’s not alone, I see that way too much from the staff lately.
*Conversely, our guys are taking a lot of pitches in advantage counts. Betts, for example, took a half-ass slider down the middle on 2 &2 after Ohtani’s triple in the 5th go get to 3 & 2 where he hit a way tougher pitch ground ball the 3rd.
*Muncy missed a fat hanging slider in the 5th that screamed “Hit Me”. He struck out. In the bottom half, James Wood hit the identical pitch into the centerfield seats. Max did double later, finally going opposite.
*Welcome to the Show for this season, Hunter Fedducia. Nothing like getting to pinch hit in the 9th, as the tying run.
Nice to see hit get the opportunity.
Our bullpen is suddenly vulnerable.
Time to play better and we could use Freddie back.
Sauer optioned back to AAA, Wrobleski activated. Former Dodger, Octavio Dotel was killed when the roof of a club in Santo Domingo collapsed. Dotel was obtained in a trade with the Pirates in 2010.
https://twitter.com/billplunkettocr/status/1909367941558055121
Lineups are out. Ohtani DH, Betts SS, Edman 2B, Hernandez RF, Conforto LF, Kike 1B, Muncy 3B, Pages CF, Barnes C, Wrobleski P.
Yeesh.
Should the dodgers go to a lineup like this with Freeman out take Betts out if shortstop and put him un rightfield tell him fucis on hitting the ball. Okay so you move Betts to right field Conforto to centerfield until trade deadline and teoscar to leftfield okay that outfield is set. Then in the infield put Kiki at third base and miggy ro at shortstop and edmans at second base and Muncy at first base and then Smith at catcher and see how that woekd dor a week okay cuz taylor can’t hit and Pages who know what he is doing okay these guys are way bettee then the Giants who are in first place now but the Betts at short has git to go he is an outfielder to many errors need guys that have played there. Okay.