Just minutes after the Dodgers dropped their second game in a row against the Boston Red Sox, they struck gold with a blockbuster deal that will define this year’s trade deadline. In a move that was widely expected to come to fruition, the Dodgers got their big catch of the deadline as they struck gold by acquiring Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers.
The Dodgers did not have to move that much prospect capital, as the return haul to Detroit includes outfielder Zyhir Hope, and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith. With the Dodgers once again signifying their dominance in the trade market, here are some reactions to the Dodgers acquiring Skubal.
Mike Petriello of MLB.com writes about how the Dodgers deal for Skubal could go down as the greatest deadline deal for an ace that we’ve ever seen, comparing the deal to the Brewers acquiring Hall of Fame pitcher C.C. Sabathia in 2008.
We’re talking pitchers as legendary and accomplished as Johnson, Scherzer, Sabathia and Verlander; we’re talking about some great seasons from solid hurlers like Jeff Samardzija, Luis Castillo, Yu Darvish and Bartolo Colon; we’re talking about the rare post-1986 Big June Trade in Freddy Garcia; we’re talking about the best season of Sidney Ponson’s career, and that one only barely.
The Dodgers’ deal for Skubal now fortifies arguably the best rotation in baseball, with Sonja Chen of MLB.com noting that the team now boasts a starting staff of at least five potential aces.
At full strength, the Dodgers’ six-man rotation in the regular season figures to include Yamamoto, Skubal, Snell, Ohtani, Glasnow and one of Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski or Emmet Sheehan. In the postseason, when that group is whittled down to four, that means Wrobleski, Glasnow, Sasaki and Sheehan could all be options for the bullpen, with the latter three potentially giving L.A. some much-needed reinforcements from the right-hand side.
The rich continue to get richer, and this latest move for Skubal proves the Dodger simply don’t care whether they are “ruining baseball” or not, notes Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times in his latest column.
So the Dodgers grabbed him. Of course they did. They are rushing full bore toward that three-peat and, to the delight of the most appreciative fans in baseball, nothing is going to get in their way.
The rest of baseball will hate them for this. They don’t care. Critics will say this is yet another example of how they are ruining the game. They could give a rip.
As he sets to join his new team, Skubal himself commented on his move to the Dodgers, noting that he although the past day has been a roller coaster, he’s excited for the opportunity, per Jack Harris of the California Post.
“I’m excited to be a Dodger,” he said. “I’m excited to get down there and meet all those guys, and chase three championships in a row. That’s hard to do. So I’m excited to be a part of that. But yeah, it’s a lot of different emotions. Definitely kind of a roller coaster a little bit.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was one of the first Dodgers to share their reaction to the Skubal trade, as he discussed the move following his start against Boston on Saturday.
“I was hearing some rumors about that, but then it actually happened. I’m pretty surprised.”
Jeff Passan of ESPN, who originally broke the news of Skubal heading to the Dodgers, joined SportsCenter on Saturday night to discuss the real possibility of the team solidifying their chances at a three-peat.
“The Dodgers are going to have a starting pitching advantage in every series that they’re in… all eyes will be on the Dodgers this October.
