3 top prospects the Dodgers can afford to trade before 2023 season

The Los Angeles Dodgers have perfected the art of being a big-market team that can spend while implementing small-market analytics to build a deep farm system. That's why the team has a decade-long postseason streak and still has one of the best farm systems in all of baseball.

Andrew Friedman has not been afraid to leverage that farm system in trades in the past, either. Better yet, when Friedman decides to trade a top prospect, he's usually right -- those prospects more often than not don't live up to hype. Yordan Alvarez is the lone exception, but he wasn't a "top prospect" when he was traded to the Houston Astros.

There's plenty of farm talent for Friedman to trade if the Dodgers decide to make a move before the 2023 season begins. But which of these prospects are the easiest to part ways with?

3 top prospects the Dodgers can afford to trade before Opening Day

3. Bobby Miller, Dodgers' No. 2 prospect (MLB Pipeline)

Before Dodgers fans come to my apartment with pitchforks, I need to express that, as a fan, I do not want the Dodgers to trade Bobby Miller. There's a lot to get excited about with Miller, and many Dodgers fans are already tabbing him as the next best thing.

However, fans also held similar sentiments about players like Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz, and look how that panned out. Based on recent Dodgers history, I wouldn't be totally shocked if Miller follows down the same path.

Miller has explosive stuff that certainly plays, but he hasn't put it together performance-wise at the minor league level. Solely using stats to evaluate prospects is extremely flawed, but it still tells us something. Despite his great stuff, Miller hasn't been great, posting a 4.25 ERA last season.

Miller is still a bonafide top prospect, though, and if the Dodgers want to make a trade for a big name like Bryan Reynolds, he becomes the first name that's attached. And while many fans would be upset with this decision, Friedman has earned the benefit of the doubt. I don't want the Dodgers to trade Bobby Miller but if they do, then he probably isn't as good as Dodgers fans think.

2. Landon Knack, Dodgers' No. 11 prospect

The Dodgers have a lot of pitching talent ready to make an impact in the immediate future. Ryan Pepiot has already gotten his feet wet at the big-league level and he should have a much bigger role with the Dodgers in 2023.

Gavin Stone should make the big-league club at some point in 2023 after mowing through the minor leagues, and there are still guys like Michael Grove and Andre Jackson who have gotten minimal big-league chances and are fighting for a spot on the roster.

If Miller isn't traded, it creates a massive mountain to climb for someone like Landon Knack, who is outside of the top 10 in the Dodgers' farm system rankings and doesn't need to spend much more time in the minors.

Knack is turning 26 in July and after struggling with the organization in 2022, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see the Dodgers move Knack for big-league talent. We've seen this kind of trade several times before. The Dodgers could swap Knack for a big-league reliever in a bad situation and on an expiring contract.

It's hard to justify keeping a 27-year-old pitcher with a 5.01 ERA from the year prior. Sure, he still has potential, but there are so many arms in front of him. The best-case scenario is capitalizing on any trade value he may still have.