Walker Buehler's latest Red Sox blowup proves Dodgers need to look elsewhere at trade deadline

In his early trade deadline prediction roundup, Jeff Passan suggested a reunion for the Dodgers and homegrown starter Walker Buehler, who left for the Red Sox in free agency on a prove-it deal this offseason. Passan's reasoning was easy enough for Dodgers fans to figure out before even reading the blurb; the Dodgers have a lot of starters on the IL, and even though the group is tentatively expected to be back in late July, a little bit of assurance wouldn't hurt.

Jack Harris of the LA Times wrote that fans shouldn't expect the Dodgers to make a huge splash at the deadline because of their optimism for their injured starters, but if that changes, the Dodgers might want to look away from Buehler anyway.

During his last outing for the Red Sox on Friday, he pitched just two innings against the Yankees before being pulled after the second. He gave up five earned runs (seven total), including a three-run homer to Jazz Chisholm, a two-run homer to Anthony Volpe, and then hit Volpe to bring in the seventh run with the bases loaded.

Everyone can have a bad day, but Buehler's been distancing himself from his former glory even further throughout the season. He'll be toeing the rubber again Wednesday night against the pesky Rays at Fenway, looking to get back in everyone's good graces.

Walker Buehler's seven-run outing against Yankees should have the Dodgers looking for alternatives at trade deadline

Buehler was hard on himself after the outing too, saying (with a characteristic expletive peppered in, "This organization put a lot of faith in me this offseason, and I've been f—ing embarrassing for us."

To be fair, he's put up a few good starts this season. On April 21, he went seven innings and only gave up one hit against the White Sox, and then he followed it up with a six-inning, three-run effort against the Guardians. But the ruin in his second-shortest start of the year was self-inflicted. He got through 2 1/3 without giving up a hit to the Mets, but got himself ejected after a screaming match with home plate umpire Mike Estabrook.

Buehler's numbers 10 starts in are better than his numbers 10 starts in last season, but not by much. While the trade market looks like it might be missing starters in the Garrett Crochet tier of 2024, the Dodgers shouldn't pick up arms just to pick up arms (like they're currently sort of doing with the bullpen) if it means giving up actual value at the trade deadline.

Buehler does have a lot of postseason experience and clearly a lot of familiarity with the club, as Passan noted, but he doesn't look like he'll be worth the risk.