Tarik Skubal: The Dodgers Weren’t the Only Team in the Running

Last night, the Dodgers managed to do what many people feared: they acquired Tarik Skubal from the Tigers.

In return, three prospects are heading to Michigan. They're good young players, but let's just say it's not the most spectacular trade-off in the world.

This inevitably makes the Dodgers the favorites to win the World Series for a third straight season.

And it also means that many fans are upset to see that the Dodgers have once again managed to land a star player.

The question we're asking, however, is this: why haven't other teams managed to do what L.A. just did?

Because let's face it: other teams could have gone after him.

Jon Heyman reports that seven or eight clubs were in the running to acquire Skubal on a loan deal. It wasn't just L.A.

The pitcher had no say in the matter, he doesn't come with an exorbitant long-term contract, and the prospects given up aren't an outrageous price to pay.

Except that in an MLB where front office executives sometimes place a lot (too much?) value on prospects, the Dodgers were the ones who agreed to make a move.

The Tigers traded Skubal two days before the deadline. Clearly, they felt that the other teams weren't serious enough to justify waiting any longer.

This morning, my frustration is directed much more at Milwaukee than at Los Angeles. Why didn't the Brewers pay what it took? It was possible to do so, after all.

Does this trade make a work stoppage inevitable? Maybe… but it shouldn't be because of the Skubal trade.

• The Dodgers will be in Detroit in a month.

• Two consecutive MVPs and two consecutive Cy Young Award winners playing together: a first.

• The Dodgers' rotation.

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