The MLB trade deadline is days away, and Tarik Skubal appears to be a near lock to be on the Dodgers’ roster once it’s over.
According to ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan, there is only one way that Skubal wouldn’t get traded by the Tigers to the Dodgers. And that’s if the asking price gets “so high, it’s offensive to the Dodgers.”
“Despite what everybody thinks, this is not an organization that has gone and won the World Series, strictly on the backs of money bags being carried around and thrown at players,” Passan said on the “Baseball-Bar-B-Cast” podcast. “…They’re extremely good at developing talent, they’re extremely good at making trades, they’re extremely good at identifying players who are going to be good at drafting and developing them.”
For decades, the Dodgers have been considered one of MLB’s top organizations. They’ve consistently bolstered a top farm system, usually don’t get burned when making a trade, and, of course, aren’t afraid to sign the best player available in the offseason.
Before the Dodgers became a “superpower” in baseball, when they acquired Shohei Ohtani in 2023, they were three years removed from winning their seventh World Series in franchise history in 2020.
Before 2020, the team was near regulars in the NLCS, appearing in four of them between 2013-2018, including two World Series in 2017 and 2018.
During last year’s deadline, the Dodgers showed how good they are at evaluating talent by trading starting pitcher Dustin May to the Red Sox for outfielders James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard.
Tibbs and Ehrhard are ranked among the Dodgers’ top-20 prospects in a minor league system that ranks No. 3 overall, according to Baseball America.
Tibbs has blossomed into a promising prospect since he joined the Dodgers’ farm system last July. Ahead of Friday, he was hitting .283, with 21 home runs and 73 RBIs.
Ehrhard has also made a name for himself in Triple-A, seeing his batting average increase from .272 last year to .294 this season, with more than 100 hits, 15 home runs and 69 RBIs.
“The answer should almost be nothing; there’s nothing that should get in the way of the Dodgers doing this,” Passan said. “Because they do have such advantages, because unlike the Brewers, and unlike the Rays, this isn’t the avenue on which their championships is built.”
Passan said when the Brewers and Rays become buyers at the trade deadline, the risk could be just as high as the reward compared with the Dodgers.
“The Dodgers are like, ‘Yeah, take these six outfielders, we got three more,” Passan said. “And we’ll buy it if we don’t.”
