A two-time reigning Cy Young Award-winning pitcher has just been traded to the two-time defending champions.
The Detroit Tigers have sent left-hander Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In exchange, Detroit will get three prospects in outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith.
The Dodgers announced the deal on Sunday before their series finale against the Red Sox. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman announced that Skubal’s first start for his new team will come on Tuesday at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.
“I’m excited to be a Dodger,” Skubal told reporters after the Tigers’ game on Saturday against the A’s. “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 so excited to a part of that. But it’s a lot of different emotions. Definitely kind of a roller coaster a little bit.”
The Dodgers are in first place in the NL West and were already the favorites to become the first team to three-peat since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000 before adding Skubal. Los Angeles began the season with a $323.3 million opening-day payroll for their 40-man roster and a $163.7 million tax for a $487.1 million total. They will pay Skubal about $9.5 million for the remainder of the season.
Skubal was by far the best player on the trade block and the biggest potential difference-maker available. He will be a free agent this season and is making $32 million after winning his arbitration case last winter.
The Dodgers made the deal with a bit of uncertainty in their starting rotation. Lefty Blake Snell is rehabbing a shoulder injury and is going to make one more rehab start before returning to the Dodgers’ rotation, while Tyler Glasnow (back) is about to begin his rehab assignment.
Also, Shohei Ohtani has been sidelined from the mound because of a knee injury, although manager Dave Roberts is optimistic he will pitch again this season.
Still, the Dodgers have World Series hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto and All-Star Justin Wrobleski leading what is still a strong rotation. They have now added one of the best pitchers in baseball to the equation.
Tarik Skubal will make an already formidable Dodgers rotation even better. (Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
For the Tigers, Skubal has been an absolute machine over the past three seasons. He threw at least 190 innings in both 2024 and 2025 and won the American League Cy Young Award in both years.
So far this season, Skubal has a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts. He missed about a month and a half after a loose body was discovered in his throwing elbow. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure to relieve the bone chip.
Skubal returned on June 13 and allowed nine runs over his first 16 ⅓ innings. In six starts since, Skubal has a 1.95 ERA over 37 innings, during which he had 50 strikeouts against just six walks. Suffice to say, he is being traded while pitching as well as he has all season.
Skubal’s last start for the Tigers came on Wednesday in Detroit, when he was lifted after 6 ⅔ innings with six strikeouts and one walk, while allowing one run before the bullpen allowed both inherited runners to score.
The Dodgers are in first place in the NL West and were already the favorites to become the first team to three-peat since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000 before adding Skubal.
The 29-year-old lefty said in July that it was his preference to finish the season with the Tigers to compete for a World Series championship, which has eluded the franchise since 1984.
Detroit planned to contend again this season, bolstering the Skubal-led rotation by giving two-time All-Star pitcher Framber Valdez a $115 million, three-year contract in free agency and retaining three-time All-Star infielder Gleyber Torres with a $22 million deal.
The Tigers, though, got off to a rough start and slumped to 16 games under .500 with about 100 games remaining.
They bounced back in June and most of July to get into playoff contention with Skubal leading a rotation and three All-Stars in the lineup: rookie infielder Kevin McGonigle, catcher Dillon Dingler and outfielder Riley Greene.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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