The Dodgers have considered the possibility of trading right-hander Dustin May, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. His colleague, Fabian Ardaya, hears similarly and reminds that Los Angeles has traded starters from its big league roster at each of the past two deadlines (James Paxton, Noah Syndergaard).
Los Angeles has a bevy of starters on the roster, but many are injured. May’s 99 innings rank second on the team, as do his 17 starts, behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto in both categories. Clayton Kershaw is the only other Dodger with even ten starts on the year. That said, L.A. recently welcomed Tyler Glasnow back from the injured list. Shohei Ohtani has resumed pitching, though he’s yet to top three innings in a start. Emmet Sheehan returned from Tommy John surgery in mid-June and has pitched well. Blake Snell is expected back soon. He’s made three rehab starts, building up to four innings his last time out, and has allowed a total of two runs in nine frames with a 17-to-1 K/BB ratio.
The Dodgers are known to be exploring the market for high-end relievers. May isn’t going to be a key component — or a component at all — in any trade where the Dodgers pry a top reliever like Emmanuel Clase, Ryan Helsley or Jhoan Duran away from their current teams. He’s a free agent at season’s end and thus wouldn’t hold interest to a club that’s gravitating toward the sell side of the deadline spectrum. However, trading May could bring in a reliever in a one-for-one swap with another contender seeking rotation help or could net some additional prospects to help soften the hit to the farm system if the Dodgers make a splash elsewhere.
It’s perhaps telling that the Dodgers don’t simply move May to the ’pen himself, though he’d presumably prefer to avoid such a move. He’s in his final season before free agency and his first year back after a 2024 season lost to flexor surgery rehab and a separate esophageal surgery. There’s no indication at all that May would push back on a more lasting move to relief work, to be clear, but it’s arguably in the 27-year-old righty’s best interest to continue on as a starter and build that workload up in his platform year. May followed Ohtani with 4 2/3 innings of long relief his last time.
May’s 2025 season has brought mixed results. His 99 innings are already a career-high at the MLB level for the frequently injured righty. He got out to a nice start (4.09 ERA, 24.2 K%, 8.5 BB% through June 2) but has hit a rockier stretch lately. Dating back to June 9, May has pitched 37 1/3 innings with a 5.79 ERA, 17.2% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate. May’s velocity has held up, but he’s pushing into uncharted waters in terms of big league workload and doing so in his first season back on the mound following a year off. Some struggles are not necessarily surprising.
Because of that, the Dodgers would be selling low on May. However, given his status as an impending free agent who’s unlikely to receive a qualifying offer anyhow, the alternative would be hanging onto him and letting him go for no return at season’s end. If the Dodgers are either concerned about his ability to downshift to a bullpen role or simply want to do right by the player and find him an opportunity to continue working out of a rotation, a trade in the next week would make sense.
He is too healthy for the Dodgers, they hate that
fred – I’m guessing they are anticipating a bunch of pitchers returning from the IL, thus making him expendable.
A better headline would have been “Dodgers May Make May Available”.
Not seeing this. For one, May’s future value as a free agent would not be hurt by moving him to the bullpen for a couple of months. For another, trading him to a contender as a rental, especially for a reliever, doesn’t make a lot of sense. Contending teams aren’t usually looking for back-end starters. Finally, the Dodgers need the depth he provides and the ability to relieve Kershaw and Ohtani’s starts.
Yep. He should move to the bullpen. They will need him.
I think some contending teams are looking for backend starters or depth. Someone like May feels like he could play up in a relief role if a team were to use him as a swingman. But then if that’s his fate, wouldn’t the Dodgers just value him for that role too? With Snell and maybe others coming back would they consider selling someone with options like Sheehan or Wrobleski? Non roster starting depth isn’t easy to get at the deadline. It might be worth a bit. The Jays gave you Frasso for Mitch White. Toronto fans hate that move but I’d like something similar at this point. The Jays have a full rotation of vets but not really any healthy AAA options. And one of the guys in their rotation is Scherzer.
I’ve always felt that May was destined for the bullpen. He’s basically got a two-pitch arsenal, which isn’t really enough to sustain a starter today’s game, where 5-pitch mixes are common.
@Blueskies Justin Steele would like a word.
His future value *shouldn’t* be hurt if he moved to the bullpen for the rest of the year, but I’d argue it would be because teams will use his limited workload history against him in negotiations. That said, it probably ends up happening anyway because I don’t see the Dodgers moving him either unless they’re blown away by an offer, which they won’t be.
Bottom line, the Dodgers aren’t going to predicate any move they make on building a pending free agent’s future value. I doubt very much any player expects this from any team. Most likely he’s headed for a pillow-type contract next year anyway, and anything that shows his usefulness is a value-builder, not a subtractor.
I agree, the Dodgers won’t predicate any move they make on building May’s future free agent value; it doesn’t serve them to do so. I just disagree that it’s a value add for May to move to the pen. If I was his agent, and that was the plan, I’d be pushing him to push for a trade.
Depends on how effective he is in that role. Currently he isn’t showing much value as a starter, but he might have the stuff to convert to a high-leverage reliever, maybe even a closer. Either way, demonstrated versatility is a plus.
@Outlaw….I didn’t read BlueSkies saying value would be added by May in the pen, just that it would not necessarily be hurt too much as he is likely getting a pillow contract in the offseason.
But I’ll type it; he could add to his value as a nasty late inning reliever who can go multiple innings.
Granted, this is an unlikely scenario as May doesn’t seem too open to relief work. That’s going by the little I’ve heard, but didn’t hear his entire post-game interview on Monday.
I was just thinking the other night that he is a potential closer. His pitches have a lot of movement, and in short stints he could be very overpowering and effective.
I would like him to stick around very much, but I already suspected they might not bring him back in any capacity. Obviously they know his extensive injury history, but that shouldn’t be a deterrent to them, since they routinely acquire pitchers with injury histories (Snell, Glasnow, Sasaki, etc.).
I hope May stays, as I think he could really help them in the bullpen this year–and beyond.
I also think value could be added if he pitched successfully out of the pen for a couple of months. It sure wouldn’t hurt, as it would build a floor under his value that he might not get as a marginally effective starter.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding what he is saying, but when he said anything that shows his usefulness is a value-builder, that’s how I took it @paddyo.
We might also be looking at this differently, too.
I’ll acknowledge that him showing versatility would make him more appealing to any club, that’s 100% true. I’m looking at it from his future earnings potential though, where I think it would hurt him. Depending on your source, the average MLB starter makes 30+ million; the average RP makes less than 3m. If they can cast him as a RP in negotiations, they’ll try. And while I don’t think May touches anything close to 30m, I do think he easily pulls 10m as a SP on the market. That’s kinda my argument.
The offers a free agent gets are the offers he gets. He’s available to all 30 teams, and nobody can “cast” him in any way. And I am certain the average starting pitcher in MLB earns well under $30M. Maybe half that much, since this is near the top end.
So no, I don’t think you misunderstood what I am saying, though perhaps you are misinterpreting it. Versatility gets a player more bids for their services, not less. This means they are likely to earn more, not less.
The Dodgers are probably figuring that some sort mix of Sheehan, Casparius, Wrobleski, and Sasaki would be capable of filling in as relievers for Kershaw and Ohtani if they don’t pitch deep into games.
Plus, they can always give Knack, Miller (i hope not) and Gonsolin (if he recovers) a chance to help out at some point as well if needed.
May would fit right in with the Dodgers pen. Already has the “Ready and able to walk all comers” skillset.
lol
I can’t believe he’s a free agent already? That surprises me.
Add Ross Stripling and Mitch White to the list of Dodgers starters shipped out at the deadline. Both to Toronto who does need starting depth.
Why would anyone want him, he stinks and always gets hurt.
Dustin May. And then again he may not.
Possibly. Perhaps.
Translation, “Dodgers seek team to take on Dustin May so they don’t have to pay him”
He’s making 2.135 million this year, of which over half bas already been paid.
The Dodgers need more pitching, not less. Unless it’s a 3-way trade with a contender who wants May and a seller with a bullpen arm to move I just don’t see it.
One more 3-way with Mozeliak where STL gets little value back to Cards to officially close the door on Mozeliak working in anything other than his PoBO Emeritus role?
May for Iglesias and Ozuna….Too much, too little for either side? I’d take May as a bounce back rotation candidate next season on the Braves for sure.
He’ll be a free agent, so everybody gets a shot at signing him.
I wouldn’t mind that, either; I just don’t think that deal gets it done. Dodgers definitely say no because they have the best DH in the sport. Ozuna has no value to them.
Atlanta would be better served just to sign him as a FA, anyway.
Could they hit May with a QO after a trade?…if so that’s a good way to hopefully guarantee he sticks with the Braves for a least one season and bounces back
Nope.
QO’s disappear if a pending free agent is traded during his final season before free agency.
What good is a DH gonna do the Dodgers?
Only a good problem the Dodgers could have, a back up DH for the stretch run
Do you watch baseball? No team has room for a backup DH they’ve got 13 pitchers on the roster.
A back up DH for the stretch run? Really?
Available for what?
Been awful for much of the season and no team control. Dodgers have almost an entire roster’s worth of Pitchers on the IL, probably should hold on to every arm they can
If they did trade him they wouldn’t miss him that goes for Gonsoslin too. He has 1 more yr of arb at about 5.5 for next yr back of the rotation starter but possible non tender next yr
Is Fraggle Rock May any good?
So Yamamoto’s 20 starts don’t count since only May and Kershaw are the only ones with more than 10 starts?
Agree that article was poorly written but technically Yoshi was implied in the original story when it said that May was second in starts on the team and that Kershaw was the only other one with 10 starts (besides May and the unnamed Dodgers who started more than May’s 17 games).
Dustin May is just Michael Rooker wearing a wig. He’ll get injured again because he’s actually 70 years old.
Yeah, he killed his mama.
You can tell I don’t follow May or the Dodgers. I was under the impression that he was injured most of his career but had no idea he is eligible for free agency after this season. I feel like he hasn’t even pitched in a full seasons worth of games in his entire career combined.
He HAS been injured for much of it. He has missed parts of a few seasons. He is clearly very talented and can look great for the first four or five innings of a start, making you think he could throw a no-hitter at some point. But he often unravels a bit and has a rough inning. That is why he could be a very effective, dominant reliever.
and for a team that in a few weeks will potentially have 7 “starters” active, and based on the recent bullpen “issues”, it would make sense to put him in the pen. His electric stuff would play up for a brief period in a game knowing he would only have to face a hitter once during a game, no holding back. Just my humble opinion.
If Ken Rosenthal is reporting it you know it’s bunk.
“If Ken Rosenthal”..Rosenthal is reporting that Dustin May is on a private jet to Toronto to sign an extension after being traded there.
I kind of feel like him getting angry after his perfect game was broken up a few weeks ago may have hurt his stock. Fans were giving him an ovation and he was just pissed off. I’m still rooting for him, but he needs to meditate or something.
Make Betts available. If a team is looking for a hitter to pop out to an infielder or a lazy fly out, Mookie is the man.
Yikes brah.
If he is available the Dodgers have done their due diligence and this is far from a desperation move to get better. I have that much faith in the front office. It’s nice to not have that “oh hell, they screwed that one up” over the Dodger front office’s heads as a fan.
I’m sure teams will be lining up to trade for a mediocre impending free agent in his first healthy season approaching innings he’s never thrown.
I can see a team giving him a 2-3 year deal on him in the offseason but don’t expect a ton of trade value.
He’s not even mediocre.
Based on his injury history and lack of innings for his career, I sincerely thought they would use him exclusively out of the pen this year to protect his arm/health. He was already at a career high of innings pitched by June.
With a possible stretch run rotation of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Kershaw, and Ohtani, I think they could solve a lot of bullpen issues by putting May and Sheehan in the pen for a) long relief b) spot starts c) high leverage.
Too much is being made of his “career high” in innings. He’s been injured for large parts of so many seasons it’s impossible to know the number he could pitch if uninjured. It isn’t the innings that cut short his seasons, it was the injuries — including one that had nothing to do with baseball.
It’s a bit of a gamble to deal May given the potential injury risks in the rotation. Lots of pitchers with checkered injury history. That said, I’d have to think that even if May is healthy the Dodgers don’t envision him being a top 4 SP option for postseason. The Dodgers need relief pitchers more than starting pitching. They could move May to the bullpen but I can see them using him in a package for a reliever, and possibly another bat.
If they acquire some high-end arms, it’d be the logical move. May definitely has control issues….
Why exactly would anyone want this guy? He’s terrible. Maybe not Erick Fedde bad, but in that ballpark.
No contending team would want him, because he hurts their chances. No non-contending team would want him unless they are trying to tank this year.
Ishtar
Rain Man
The Graduate?
Decent sweeper
Shades of Carrot Top
Never reached the level we thought he would
If traded prefers to stay close to Vegas cos of residency
Ever seen the movie Mask? RIP Rocky Dennis, but he may have had a child before he passed.