Already playing out the 2026 season under the guise they have ‘ruined baseball,’ the Los Angeles Dodgers provided critics with more reason to be upset by trading for Tarik Skubal before this year’s trade deadline passed.
What was widely perceived as a forgone conclusion was completed by the Dodgers trading River Ryan, Zyhir Hope and Brady Smith to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for the reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner.
Skubal now joins a Dodgers rotation that is currently led by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but should add Blake Snell back to the fold in roughly a week’s time, and eventually Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani.
Tarik Skubal responds to Dodgers’ critics
Skubal joined his new team as the Dodgers concluded their homestand but didn’t speak with media until Monday. He reiterated being excited over the opportunity ahead and firmly pushed back against the notion that the Dodgers are behind baseball’s undoing.
“Every team could trade for me. Every team could make that acquisition,” Skubal began. “I don’t really sympathize with people that blame the Dodgers for anything they’ve done. They’ve developed a really good organization, they draft well, they acquire talent really well, they retain talent, it’s a winning organization.
“Now the complaints seem to be because they’ve won the last two World Series. I don’t think it was like that three years ago. So I don’t really sympathize with people that complain, because the Dodgers do all the right things.”
Skubal’s remarks were similar to sentiments previously shared by Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.
Though Skubal remains on track to become a free agent after the 2026 season and some have wondered if he perhaps will sign a new contract before the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires Dec. 1, the left-hander deflected questions about his future and instead shifted the focus to finishing out the year.
“I’m excited to be here and I’m excited to compete with these guys. When you watch them from across the way or just see them do their thing on TV, you just have a lot of respect because they play the game the right way,” Skubal said.
“The entire focus of this organization is on winning championships, and that’s my entire focus. So we’re very much aligned. I’m ready to go out there and compete, and give this organization and city everything that I’ve got.”
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