3 Dodgers players who should be on trade block before Opening Day

Michael Grove

A second-round draft pick for the Dodgers in 2018, Grove was their No. 23 prospect in 2022 before he was called up. He pitched 29 innings in the majors for a 4.60 ERA before being sent down again. There have been much worse debut years (Gavin Stone had a 9.00 ERA last year), and the Dodgers presumably liked what they saw enough to put him on the Opening Day roster in 2023 as their fifth starter. Back then, the rotation included also Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías, Noah Syndergaard, and Dustin May — ah, different times. Walker Buehler was out after Tommy John and the Dodgers hadn't called up Bobby Miller yet, which gave Grove a chance to make an impression.

He started four games in April and was promptly lit up. During his second start, he gave up 12 hits and nine earned runs over 3 1/3 innings and was sent down for all of May. Things looked better but not great in June, though he stayed on the major league roster and the Dodgers kept giving him the ball for starts ... until August, when he was kicked back to the bullpen and was able to keep everything scoreless in 1-2 inning stretches. He finished the season with a 6.13 ERA.

Grove is still young and has a promising slider that performed well last year, so he could be on the block as a trade option for prospects if another team thinks that they can shape him up into a serviceable bullpen arm. It's a little disappointing for the Dodgers, who also seem to be losing faith in top-ranked prospect Miguel Vargas, but their bullpen is pretty stacked as it is.