The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t have to hang their heads following a narrow 3-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.
Because in this era of Major League Baseball, even when the Dodgers lose, they win.
Moments after losing their second straight game to the visiting Red Sox, multiple outlets reported the Dodgers pulled off a seismic trade by acquiring reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers for three prospects in outfielder Zyhir Hope along with right-handed pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith.
Skubal gives the Dodgers, who are on a quest for a World Series three-peat and own the second-best record in all of baseball at 69-42 following the defeat to the Red Sox, even more firepower to add to their embarrassment of riches they already possess.
The 29-year-old Skubal joins a Dodgers rotation that already features two-time All-Star and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, another two-time Cy Young winner in Blake Snell and an All-Star right-hander in Tyler Glasnow — Snell and Glasnow currently are working their way back from injuries. There’s also four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, who hasn’t pitched since July 3 due to a knee ailment but when he does toe the rubber, he has racked up an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings this season.
Skubal was having another strong season for the Tigers, but not as dominant as his previous two that saw him walk away with hardware. The talented lefty has made 16 starts, boasting a 7-5 record with a 2.79 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers surprisingly didn’t give up a massive haul to land Skubal. The primary reason for that is Skubal is in a contract year and could just be a rental for Los Angeles as he is expected to land a mega pay day once he hits free agency in the offseason.
The Dodgers only parted with their No. 5 (Hope), No. 7 (Ryan), and No. 17 (Smith) prospects in the deal. To put that in perspective, those same prospects for the Red Sox according to MLB Pipeline would be 19-year-old outfielder Endy Azocar, infielder Henry Godbout and outfielder Harold Rivas — none of those players have even made it past High-A ball yet.
The Red Sox won’t have to face Skubal in the series finale with the Dodgers on Sunday night (7:20 p.m.) — Jake Bennett will be opposed by Emmet Sheehan, who was rumored at one point to be in the trade for Skubal — but the biggest name on the trade block is still headed to Los Angeles to the dismay of plenty of baseball fans.
Skubal getting traded could be the first big domino to fall across the league, and perhaps it’s the Red Sox, who have dramatically turned their season around, pulling off the next big deal before Monday’s deadline.