Tarik Skubal is the talk of the MLB trade deadline as the Detroit Tigers hold the biggest chip potentially available, and it is widely expected that the Los Angeles Dodgers will be the team to land him.
Rival executives expect the Dodgers to go all-in on a Skubal trade and see L.A. getting greedy as they attempt to become the first team in National League history to win three consecutive World Series titles.
But the Dodgers don’t appear to be viewing the trade deadline the same way as many expect them to. The Dodgers don’t have any major needs, and it seems they’ll treat the deadline with that understanding.
With that, the Dodgers are an unlikely landing spot at this moment for Skubal with the trade deadline closing in, according to Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times:
With a week to go before the MLB trade deadline on Aug. 3, the Dodgers don’t appear to be moving toward a trade for Skubal, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.
The Dodgers would benefit from adding Skubal; any team would, as he’s arguably the top pitcher in MLB. But they also expect to enter the postseason with a rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow.
All of those pitchers, aside from Yamamoto, are currently injured, but the Dodgers believe they’ll all be ready by October. They also have Justin Wrobleski in case any of them aren’t ready, and Roki Sasaki has taken positive steps recently and seems to be trending up.
With the Tigers’ asking price of a young starting pitcher and high-end prospects for Skubal, that would be a high price to pay for a team that is still the World Series favorite even without the left-hander. Skubal would increase those odds, but is it enough to meet the cost for him? Probably not, given the randomness of the MLB playoffs.
Of course, any setback or doubt about one of their pitchers in the next week will likely change their plans and put Skubal at the front of mind.
Dodgers trade deadline plans
As of now, the Dodgers are more focused on improving their depth and their farm system. With an excess of talent on their MLB roster, the Dodgers could even be sellers more than buyers.
Alex Call and Eric Lauer are two names on the trade block as the Dodgers could capitalize on other teams’ needs for starting pitching and right-handed bats.
The Dodgers would also like to move at least one of their highly regarded outfield prospects to improve their Minor League talent in other positions, such as the infield or starting pitching.
Additionally, the Dodgers are looking to add catching depth with Will Smith on the injured list, but don’t feel that’s a major concern with Dalton Rushing as their everyday starter.
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