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Will Tarik Skubal's Dodgers Tenure Be Short-Lived?
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- Will Tarik Skubal's Dodgers Tenure Be Short-Lived?
Will Tarik Skubal's Dodgers Tenure Be Short-Lived?
(© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
"The rich get richer" is an adage that has been attached to the Los Angeles Dodgers in recent years, but it does not mean that the rich always retain their assets.
Ahead of the Aug. 3 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the Dodgers rocked the sports world at large by trading for back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner and Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.
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The move supplemented the Dodgers' star-studded lineup and the top payroll in baseball with another one of the sport's top talents, but that does not mean Skubal will remain in the building.
Highly coveted
Skubal's services were widely desired at the deadline, and that will be the case once again in the offseason. The 29-year-old is going to command big money, but that will not stop teams from looking to acquire his services.
Of the top 15 free-agent pitchers listed by Jim Bowden of The Athletic , the former MLB executive unsurprisingly has Skubal at the top. Yet the Dodgers might not be the ones to offer him the bag he is inevitably going to get.
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The organization is dealing with the prospect of a salary cap being implemented in a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that might be agreed upon by Dec. 1, which will undoubtedly restrict the Dodgers, who have a $430.3 million tax payroll according to Spotrac, from offering Skubal his commanding price.
A rental
For the Dodgers, a chance at being etched into MLB history is on the line.
Los Angeles is in pursuit of a third-straight World Series title, and succeeding in that pursuit would make them the first team since the 1998-00 New York Yankees to do so. Moreover, the Dodgers would join the Yankees and the Athletics as the only teams to accomplish winning three straight World Series.
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The organization has made its goals clear through aggressive action to make additions to a roster that has already won consecutive titles.
The Dodgers added Edwin Diaz and Kyle Tucker in the offseason before trading for Skubal, and they are banking on star power to help them maintain control of the mountaintop, even though Tucker and Diaz have not been as advertised.
With injuries to multiple starting pitchers, including Shohei Ohtani , Los Angeles' acquisition of Skubal was a display of necessity. The club needed his services if it were to make another run.
Yet it may just be a temporary marriage. Not only is there a chance that the Dodgers are viewing Skubal as a rental, but he could be viewing Los Angeles as a temporary landing spot that was beyond his control. Before a recent emotional return to Detroit, Skubal expressed his desire to don a Tigers uniform once again.
Nothing is written in stone, but Dodgers fans should make the most of the opportunity to watch Skubal while he is on the team.
