Red Sox give Dodgers shocking opportunity to reunite with World Series hero

Since being traded to the Red Sox, former Dodger Dustin May has found something of a stride as Boston's No. 2 starter. He got knocked around a little by the Yankees on Aug. 24, but his two preceding starts were quality. On the flip side, his former Dodgers and current Red Sox teammate Walker Buehler hasn't been faring so well.

Buehler left the Dodgers in free agency at the end of the 2024 season and took a $21.05 million prove-it deal with the Red Sox that he hasn't lived up through 23 appearances (22 starts) in Boston. He had a 5.40 ERA through 110 innings before they kicked him back to the bullpen during the Yankees series, and he proceeded to give up two runs in 2 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers reportedly offered Buehler the same deal as Boston after declining to extend the qualifying offer, but he turned it down to move on to new pastures. Maybe he felt like he needed the change of scenery after three challenging years in LA and some public disagreements with management, but it hasn't exactly been the tonic that he might've expected it to be.

The Red Sox's front office must have decided that they'd seen enough, because they decided to ditch him entirely on Friday. He was released in order to create roster space for No. 2 pitching prospect Payton Tolle, who will make his MLB debut against Paul Skenes in Boston's opener against the Pirates.

Former Dodgers hero Walker Buehler demoted to Red Sox's bullpen after struggles with new club

Though most Dodgers fans would agree it was time to move on, it doesn't take away what Buehler had done for them. He was on track to set postseason pitching records if he hadn't gotten injured. He turned it on for the 2024 playoffs and was among the driving forces that helped them capture a ring. He also dominated on the team's 2020 run.

Could all of that maybe, just maybe, get the Dodgers to pick him back up just in time for the postseason? It's not entirely out of the question.

The Dodgers' pitching staff is incredibly crowded as it is, and the postseason rotation is looking likely to carry Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw unless another untimely injury befalls them, but they could think about re-signing Buehler on a league minimum contract and putting him in the bullpen to play a long relief role.

Buehler's performance this season hasn't been much incentive for anyone to give him a huge contract in his free agency, but if the Dodgers can get him for what amounts to pennies in baseball, a reunion with a homegrown guy that fans still have a lot of fondness before and has historically been a monster in October wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.