Two Moves That Would Turn the Dodgers’ Division Lead Into a Foregone Conclusion

The Dodgers are already 12.5 games up in the NL West, sitting on a 55-30 record and the best run differential in the National League. But if you think that means they’re done shopping, you haven’t been paying attention.

Good enough has never been the standard in Los Angeles. And with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Edwin Diaz all dealing with injuries that could tighten the team’s postseason margins, the front office has both the incentive and the prospect capital to make a couple of aggressive moves before the deadline. Here’s what that could look like.

Go Get Tarik Skubal and Build a Rotation That Almost Isn’t Fair

This rumor has been building for months, and the momentum is real. According to multiple league sources, there’s a growing belief around baseball that Skubal is as good as gone from Detroit, and the Dodgers are the clear frontrunners. Dave Roberts even joked recently that the league would “go ballistic” if the trade went through. Which, in Dodgers-ese, is basically a confirmation.

Skubal is a two-time defending AL Cy Young winner, currently sitting at 3-4 with a 3.32 ERA in 10 starts after returning from minor elbow surgery. The Tigers are 36-49 and trending hard toward seller status. Their window to maximize his value is right now, before he hits free agency and walks away for what’s expected to be north of $400 million.

Pairing Skubal with a returning Glasnow and a healthy Yamamoto would give the Dodgers arguably the most intimidating postseason rotation ever assembled. The rest of the NL West wouldn’t just be behind — they’d be invisible.

Add a High-Leverage Arm to Shore Up the Bullpen

For all their dominance, the Dodgers bullpen still feels like the one spot that could crack. The unit ranks sixth in MLB with a 3.60 ERA, but Edwin Diaz is out after elbow surgery, Tanner Scott gave up back-to-back walk-off homers in a single week, and young arms like Will Klein and Kyle Hurt are being asked to handle high-leverage innings before they’re fully ready.

Los Angeles survived their bullpen issues on the way to consecutive World Series titles. But surviving isn’t the goal. Closing out games with authority is.

Enter Aroldis Chapman. The 38-year-old lefty is posting a 2.19 ERA over 26 appearances for the Red Sox, and he hasn’t lost any of the electric stuff that made him a generational reliever. He’s got two World Series rings earned via midseason trades (2016 Cubs, 2023 Rangers), so he knows how to embed himself in a contender fast.

Boston sits at a 10.7% playoff probability, firmly in seller territory. Chapman’s $13.3 million salary is on a mutual option that’s almost certainly getting declined, making him a clean rental. Pair him with a healthy bullpen core and you’ve eliminated the last real argument against the Dodgers running away with not just the division, but the entire National League.