3 Dodgers players we’ll be glad are gone in 2024 and 2 we wish stayed

2 Dodgers players we wish stayed in 2024

JD Martinez

If Martinez could still reliably play left field, there's a great chance that the Dodgers would've immediately grabbed him when he hit free agency after an All-Star year in LA (despite the fact that he's a Scott Boras client), and a similarly great chance that Teoscar Hernández wouldn't be a Dodger now. Martinez has always been a star, and his one-year wonder with the Dodgers, during which time he effectively endeared himself plenty to fans, only confirmed that. As primarily a DH, he had a near-.900 OPS on the year, hit 33 home runs with 103 RBI, and was the only Dodger to hit a home run in the postseason.

But, clearly, the Dodgers have no need for another full-time DH. Ohtani for Martinez might seem like an easy swap, but Martinez has been so reliably brilliant throughout his career that watching him go is still disappointing. He's been languishing in his free agency under Boras, with multiple teams interested but none locking him down yet. It seems like a guarantee that he'll be signed somewhere, but it definitely won't be with LA.

Shelby Miller

Miller was one of the Dodgers' best reclamation projects of the last few years, right up there with Evan Phillips and Ryan Brasier. A former first-round pick and starter-turned-reliever, Miller had been struggling mightily following an All-Star year with the Braves in 2015 before the Dodgers grabbed him. Over 42 innings in 2023, the most he'd pitched since 2019, he had a 1.71 ERA and was effectively closing out games for LA. However, he became a free agent at the end of the season and the Dodgers were clearly preoccupied with their pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, because Miller signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Tigers on the heels of Yamamoto's signing.

There a chance that 2023 was a brilliant fluke for Miller but, on the whole, he was one of the most effective Dodgers to hit free agency after the season and made himself worthy of being missed. It was a good get for the Tigers, who desperately needed the bullpen help at the time. The Dodgers' bullpen is also in great shape, but it's disappointing that we couldn't see him make even more progress with LA.