Dodgers trade OF Manuel Margot & IF Rayne Doncon to Twins for SS Noah Miller; Kiké Hernández back!

Dustin Nosler 02/26/2024 Transactions Leave A Comment

The Dodgers are reportedly sending outfielder Manuel Margot and infield prospect Rayne Doncon to the Twins in exchange for shortstop prospect Noah Miller. The trade opened the door for the Dodgers to bring back Enrique Hernandez, in a roster move that just feels right.

Dodger fans hardly knew Margot, but we’ll never forget those six hitless Spring Training at-bats. Best of luck to him in Minnesota.

The 29-year-old came over as part of the Tyler Glasnow trade from earlier this offseason, though the fit was always dubious. So now, that trade ends up being the Dodgers acquiring Glasnow and Miller for Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca. The Dodgers are also sending some money Minnesota’s way to help pay Margot’s $12 million salary.

Doncon is the other player heading to the Twins’ org in the deal. He stalled out a bit with Rancho Cucamonga last season (.216/.283/.368), but he’s still just 20 years old and maybe some fresh eyes could do him well.

In return, the Dodgers are getting the 21-year-old Miller, a switch-hitter who was the 36th overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft out of a Wisconsin high school, but he’s the anthesis of Gavin Lux on the field. He’s a plus defensive shortstop who can take a walk but doesn’t hit a ton. From Twins Daily:

“Noah Miller has one obvious thing going for him, and it sets a pretty high floor for his professional baseball career: he’s an excellent defensive shortstop. He continued to flash his skills with the glove at Cedar Rapids in 2023, and there seems to be little doubt that he’s on track to be an MLB-caliber defender at the most crucial infield position. You’ve still gotta hit to be an impact player in that profile … but not a ton. Finding ways to make things happen at the plate is now Miller’s primary focus – he showed signs of doing so in the second half, as his monthly splits show. Check out that August!”

The August referred to above saw Miller hit .265/.354/.469 in one the most impressive offense months of his pro career. That isn’t a lot to get overly excited about, but the glove is the carrying tool here and he just needs to be in shouting range of average with the bat to be a potential regular.

And of course, nobody doubts the glove.

This is the second time the Dodgers have traded for a shortstop prospect this offseason, as they got Trey Sweeney from the Yankees late last year for Victor Gonzalez and Jorbit Vivas. It’s clear they’re trying to address the lack of closer-to-the-majors shortstop prospects, because it’s looking more and more like Joendry Vargas is the potential future at the position. The only issue there is Vargas is just 18 years old and is probably — at best — three years away from the bigs (but probably more like 4-5 years).

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Moving Margot — a player the Dodgers are less familiar with, internally — allowed them to bring back a player they’re very familiar with internally in Hernandez.

The Banana Man was reacquired from the Red Sox before last year’s trade deadline and was about the player we’ve come to expect. He hit ..262/.308/.423 in 185 plate appearances with the Dodgers last season. He’s expected to assume his normal super utility role, with he, Chris Taylor and Jason Heyward to help backup James Outman in center field.

All in all, a good day in Dodgerland.

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About Dustin Nosler

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Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 on his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue, and co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a one-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, California.
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