5 massive missed opportunities Dodgers squandered at trade deadline

During the annual frenzy of the MLB trade deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers were very aggressive early, making multiple trades before any other teams (except the Angels) had made noise. But the moves the Dodgers made were met with mixed reactions from fans, whether it was concerns about Joe Kelly's or Lance Lynn's ERAs and inconsistencies, or Kiké Hernández's abysmal offensive numbers on the Red Sox, or how Amed Rosario's defensive value is lacking.

There were definitely other players on the market that could have helped the Dodgers in areas of need, and LA's later attempts to fill the biggest flaws on the roster fell through for various reasons.

Should the Dodgers have been looking elsewhere in the first place all along, though?

The Dodgers' acquisitions of Hernández and Rosario proved that the team was looking for right-handed bats at the deadline. James Outman, David Peralta and Jason Heyward have all been strong enough defensively and effective against righties with the bat. But against lefties, Peralta and Heyward are not ideal options, and with Mookie Betts' ability to switch between the infield and outfield, the Dodgers had leeway to target a right-handed bat at pretty much any position. LA also entered the deadline in desperate need of starting pitching (when is the last time the Dodgers had three rookies in the rotation simultaneously?), and to a lesser extent, bullpen help.

in the end, their efforts largely went unfulfilled. How could they have done better?

5 massive missed opportunities Dodgers squandered at trade deadline

LHP Sam Moll

The Dodgers started off the deadline by making small improvements on the edges of the roster, and a lefty reliever is surely something that could’ve helped them out. When you consider the Reds only gave up their 28th-ranked prospect (Joe Boyle) to acquire Sam Moll from the A's, the Dodgers would not have given up a lot in return either, similar to the Rosario and Hernandez deals. While Moll isn’t having an All-Star-caliber season, and his 4.54 ERA is not something to brag about, his numbers (and his 3.03 xERA and 3.25 FIP) compare favorably to Alex Vesia‘s 5.59 ERA on the season.

Despite Vesia's peripherals showing he's due for some positive regression to the mean soon (3.97 xERA and 3.86 FIP), Moll has that same upside with better numbers to begin with. And, given recent struggles by Caleb Ferguson, LA doesn't currently have a reliable lefty pitcher anywhere on the major league roster. While fans would likely complain about another small-scale move, this one would've been directly in line with this year's deadline strategy of filling big holes on the roster. He's still in his pre-arbitration years so the Dodgers could keep him around in the future regardless of how much he would impact this year’s roster, and the relatively-low price that would have been paid to get him is the main reason he lands on this list.

SS Paul DeJong

As I mentioned earlier in the article, the Dodgers were in the market for a right-handed bat. Despite Miguel Rojas' steady defensive presence this season, the Dodgers turned to Rosario to fill the void that Rojas leaves at shortstop with his underwhelming offense. But what if the Dodgers had instead turned to the Cardinals to find a solid right-handed bat? DeJong was traded to the Blue Jays after Bo Bichette suffered an injury and the Jays needed insurance. Toronto only gave up Matt Svanson (a 24-year-old reliever in AA) to get him.

So what does DeJong do that Rosario can't? He brings more pop in his bat from the right side. DeJong's .710 OPS and 93 OPS+ with the Cardinals this season are better than Rosario's .675 OPS and 88 OPS+ with Cleveland. And, whereas Rosario struggles in the field (-14 DRS and -14 OAA in 2023), DeJong is a very good defender. He has never been below 0 DRS in a season, and this year his 0 DRS and 8 OAA are far better than Rosario's numbers. While trading for DeJong definitely wouldn't constitute as a blockbuster, the Dodgers definitely could have made a move to acquire him.

LHP Jordan Montgomery

The only blockbusters the Dodgers would've attempted would've been for starting pitchers. LA has been in dire need of starting pitching ever since the rookie starters first entered the rotation.

Jordan Montgomery fits in that role well, and is used to the big moments, as he was with the Yankees from 2017 until the 2022 trade deadline, when New York dealt him to the Cardinals in exchange for outfielder Harrison Bader. Montgomery adapted well to his new environment in St. Louis, posting a 3.11 ERA and 4.69 K/BB with the Cardinals. While Montgomery's walk numbers have gone up this year, his strikeout numbers have gone up too. The increases do not quite cancel each other out, but Montgomery has still been good enough to post a 3.42 ERA this year.

The left-hander was traded in a package deal, along with reliever Chris Stratton, to the Texas Rangers in exchange for LHP John King and two top prospects: RHP Tekoah Roby, who is now the Cardinals' No. 4 overall prospect, and INF Thomas Sagesse, who is now the Cardinals' No. 8 overall prospect. That return was significant, so it's possible that the Dodgers were in on Montgomery and backed out because of the high asking price, similar to the reports of what happened with a potential Nolan Arenado deal. But, the Dodgers trading players that would rank similarly wouldn't have been as costly as it appears on the surface due to the ridiculously deep farm system they have.

The Dodgers' top seven prospects are all in the top 85 in the majors, whereas none of the pieces in this trade were in the top 100, according to MLB Pipeline. That means the Dodgers wouldn't have had to trade one of their most coveted prospects to get a deal done for Montgomery. Losing out on Montgomery has an even larger significance after the Dodgers could not get LHP Eduardo Rodriguez from the Tigers because he used his 10-team no-trade clause to veto the trade. The Dodgers had to turn elsewhere to get help as a result, but failed to acquire either Dylan Cease or Jack Flaherty to fill the starting rotation before the trade deadline had passed, and instead settled on Ryan Yarbrough.

RHP Justin Verlander

For multiple reasons, this trade could have seriously benefitted the Dodgers. Starting with an off-field reason, yes, Clayton Kershaw is one of the best pitchers of all-time and surely has been able to help out with mentoring the rookies on the Dodgers' staff. But, if you look dig deeper, Verlander's pitch mix, velocity, and, on an even simpler level, his handedness, matches up well with the styles of Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan. While Verlander has thrown his changeup sparingly in 2023 (like Kershaw), his fastball usage (49% of his pitches) and slider usage (27%) combination is similar to Miller's (47% fastball and 23% slider). Miller has an even usage rate with his curveball and changeup (15%) to round out his mix, whereas Verlander significantly favors his curveball (19%) to his changeup (4%).

However, overall, Miller's profile is very similar to a younger Verlander, who used to favor his fastball even more. Also, in 2008 and 2009, his slider usage was under 3%. He has evolved as a pitcher over the course of his career to take his slider from his least-used pitch to his best off-speed pitch. Could he have helped Miller find his ideal pitch mix early in his career? Absolutely. When he was younger, he had much better velocity as well, and Miller could benefit under his tutelage. Sheehan is no different, and his velocity currently is very similar to Verlander's.

And then there's the on-field impact. Verlander has vast postseason experience, as Dodger fans are familiar with from facing him in the 2017 World Series. He had a rough start against the Mariners last postseason, giving up six earned runs in four innings, but then bounced back with six innings against the Yankees with a solo homer being the only blemish on that stat line. He gave up six earned runs in 10 innings in the 2022 World Series as well, but when choosing between Verlander and rookies starting postseason games, anybody would take Verlander, especially after Steve Cohen paid down most of his contract in the deal with the Astros.

The Dodgers had to have known they had to give to get for one of the best pitchers in the league, and it's odd they didn't push harder when they knew they'd only be on the hook for $39 million total through 2025 if Verlander's vesting option kicked in.