By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquire two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in exchange for three prospects: outfielder Zyhir Hope, River Ryan, and Brady Smith, from the Detroit Tigers.
We are seeing perhaps the best rotation in baseball. Skubal joins a rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. If the rotation stays healthy, the team will be unstoppable. The Dodgers are trying to go for the three-peat.
Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball. He’s been dominating the game for the last two seasons. In his last start with the Tigers, Skubal tossed six scoreless innings with six strikeouts. In addition, he reached 1,000 career strikeouts. He’s one of the fastest pitchers to reach that milestone. Skubal got drafted by the Tigers in 2018 out of Seattle University. He’s been in the big leagues since 2020.
The Tigers took a chance on a prospect from a small school. Skubal worked his way to become the best in the game. His story is inspiring. It was an emotional exit for him. Detroit means everything to Skubal. He built his career there. At the same time, he understands that baseball is a business, and business comes with difficult decisions.
Playoffs and championships might not be on the radar for the Tigers for this season. The Tigers are in fourth place in the AL Central and three games out of the wild card. Skubal will get the golden opportunity to earn his first championship in California. If the playoffs were to start today, Skubal will get the ball for Game 1.
People outside of Los Angeles are hating life right now because the Dodgers seem to be destroying the competition. The Dodgers have a number of talented players on their roster. Can any team stop them in October?
The Milwaukee Brewers had a chance to pursue Skubal. It would have been a great tandem between him and Jacob Misiorowski. The Brewers and maybe the Braves present the best challenge to the Dodgers. We still have a few more months of baseball left. Anything can happen between now and October.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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