There’s a name floating around every front office right now, and it’s Tarik Skubal. The Detroit Tigers lefty is the clear prize of this year’s trade market, and the rumor mill is spinning hard about where he ends up. The Yankees want him. The Braves could use him. But the team that keeps coming up in conversations? The Los Angeles Dodgers.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan basically confirmed the buzz during a Q&A on Threads. When asked directly if he thinks the Dodgers will make a move for Skubal, Passan didn’t hedge. “That’s my guess, yes,” he wrote. Not a scoop. Not a sourced report. Just a gut feeling from one of the most plugged-in guys in the business. That carries weight.
Passan went a step further, explaining why the fit makes sense. “As motivated as the Rays are to make a splash, as much as the Braves could benefit from pairing Skubal with Chris Sale … he makes a lot of sense with the Dodgers, particularly with Shohei Ohtani’s knee leaving his pitching in question.” That’s the key detail. Ohtani isn’t pitching this season after elbow surgery, but his knee issue adds another layer of uncertainty. The Dodgers need arms, and Skubal is the best one available.
Are the Tigers Actually Going to Trade Him?
For a while, the thought was Detroit might hold onto Skubal and build around him. But Bob Nightengale of USA Today laid out a pretty clear case for why that’s not realistic anymore. The Tigers just dropped three straight to sub-.500 teams. They’re seven games under .500 themselves. The math isn’t complicated.
“The Tigers really don’t want to trade him, knowing the anger and frustration it will create among their players and fanbase, but the decision really is becoming clear,” Nightengale wrote. He also floated the idea that Detroit could move No. 2 starter Casey Mize too. A full tear-down, basically.
Nightengale thinks the Dodgers are the front-runners, and not just because they need pitching. “The Dodgers are so loaded with prized minor-league outfielders they could hand them out for Halloween, and still be fine. Yes, they may not need Skubal, they’d love just to keep him away from everyone else.” That’s the kind of leverage that wins deadline deals.
What It Comes Down To
Los Angeles has the prospect capital. They have a roster that’s built to win now. They have a division lead that’s comfortable enough to let them swing big. The only real question is whether they actually pull the trigger. Passan’s guess says yes. Nightengale’s reporting suggests the same. And with Ohtani’s pitching future still a mystery, adding a guy like Skubal might be the smartest bet the Dodgers make all year.
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