The Los Angeles Dodgers added another superstar to their roster at the trade deadline by acquiring reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for three prospects.
Skubal landing in L.A. seemed like a foregone conclusion given their resources and need for starting pitching, but that hasn’t stopped others from being upset by the trade. Critics have continued to push a narrative that the Dodgers are ruining baseball with their stockpiling of elite players and seemingly unlimited budget.
“It just seems like there’s always blowback with us,” manager Dave Roberts said. “People are passionate. We feel good about it, there’s nothing we did that no one else couldn’t have done.
“I just laud our front office. We have to have the players to be able to pull something like this off. We’ve still got, arguably, one of the top one, two or three, farm systems in baseball a day later. So it’s a credit to a lot of people in this organization.”
As Roberts noted, any of the other 28 teams could have topped the Dodgers’ offer for Skubal. They gave up a modest haul — but certainly not a king’s ransom — that comprised of Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith.
That’s mostly due to Skubal expected to reach free agency at the end of the season and the added uncertainty of the economic landscape that will come with a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said he “passionately disagreed” with the ‘ruining baseball’ claims but acknowledged the Dodgers have advantages that other teams don’t.
“We’ve talked about this. I think every market has its own unique challenges, unique benefits. Some are different than others, but I think the most important thing is just leaning in to whatever it is,” Friedman said.
“Those resources are more of an advantage today than they were 10, 12, 15 years ago. Things can ebb and flow, but I think when you have an entire organization that is incredibly synced up, that good things can happen on a lot of different fronts, it creates a perfect storm in some ways.
“Yeah, I think there are ways in which we can be more aggressive. But I’ve also worked for a small-revenue team that had its own unique advantages and benefits that you had to kind of lean into. We’re seeing it with a number of teams around the league that don’t have the same resources that are doing really well. Hats off those teams and organizations. There’s just no one way to do it.
“I think having an organization that is synced up and has a clear mission puts you in position to have a better chance for success.”
Andrew Friedman focused on Dodgers fans
Friedman previously said that he wants to build the best roster possible as a way to reward Dodgers fans for their unwavering support, and that still holds true as the organization goes for a third consecutive World Series title.
“Again, this is about the partnership that we have with our fans that come out, 50,000 large and passion for this team. The guys in that clubhouse that are doing everything they can to put us in a position to win the World Series,” Friedman reiterated.
“And fortunately through the incredible work by our scouting staff, our player development staff, our front office, analytics group, all of our different departments have their fingerprints all over this to put us in position to not only be competitive here but also to have a really strong farm system.
“Which then puts us in a position to be able to have these conversations, so I think it’s incredible work by a lot of people that have allowed for this. It’s special and we’re not going to be flippant about this moment in time and how special this group, this era, can be in the history of this incredibly storied organization.
“We’re going to do everything we can to keep doing what we can to win the last game of the year.”
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