{"id":573334,"date":"2026-02-15T03:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/573334\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T03:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:34:16","slug":"dodgers-wont-trade-for-tarik-skubal-says-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/573334\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers Won\u2019t Trade for Tarik Skubal, Says Insider"},"content":{"rendered":"

MLB insider Tom Verducci explained why the Los Angeles Dodgers are unlikely to make a trade with the Detroit Tigers for two-time Cy Young-winning starting pitcher Tarik Skubal.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have taken interest in Skubal over the course of the offseason, with talks beginning during the Winter Meetings.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Verducci named the Tigers as one of the favorites to represent the American League in the upcoming World Series, and doesn\u2019t believe they would sell on potentially the best starter in MLB while they were at the top of the pack in the coming season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never really bought into that possibility,\u201d Verducci said to Dodgers Nation\u2019s Doug McKain<\/a>. \u201c\u2026I think Tarik Skubal likely is not going to re-sign to the Tigers. If he does, it\u2019s going to be beyond anywhere the Tigers have gone, even with Miguel Cabrera. They\u2019re a team that can win the American League pennant, and that\u2019s with Tarik Skubal.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026It\u2019s hard for me to envision any kind of world where in the American League Central, the Tigers are out of playoff contention at the trade deadline. So I just don\u2019t see it happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American League Central has been among MLB\u2019s weaker divisions over the past couple of seasons, sitting at the bottom of the league with a collective .478 winning percentage in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws at live batting practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.<\/p>\n

What Would the Dodgers Have to do to Land Tarik Skubal?<\/p>\n

While he said it\u2019s unlikely, Verducci said the Dodgers could theoretically trade for Skubal in the right set of circumstances \u2014 but that they would need to overpay for his services.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not a 0% chance,\u201d Verducci said of the Tigers falling out of contention, the Dodgers losing some rotation pieces and LA shipping prospects to Detroit<\/a>. \u201cAll those things that you mentioned, I think beginning with the Tigers falling out of it, and the Dodgers just paying a little more than market value to be honest with you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have to be a trade that hurts the Dodgers in terms of prospect capital because, lets face it, other teams would be in it as well just to rent Tarik for a stretch drive and a postseason. But again, that\u2019s a lot of things that would have to come into play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skubal has just one season remaining under team control, and is set to enter free agency after the 2026 season. The Dodgers have one of the strongest farm systems in the majors, but would still have to unload several top prospects to get the ace.<\/p>\n

They have shown in the past they\u2019re willing to pay players who perform, though, and could extend him after his arrival.<\/p>\n

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Does Tarik Skubal Warrant Such a Big Trade Package?<\/p>\n

While Skubal would cost the Dodgers<\/a> several prospects as well as some young MLB talent, he would be more than worth the investment if the Dodgers were to extend him.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s won both of the last two AL Cy Young awards, and has led the AL in ERA in each of the last two seasons. He pitched 195.1 innings in 2025 and recorded 241 strikeouts, and logged a career-best 2.21 ERA in his age-28 season.<\/p>\n

Skubal would further increase the Dodgers\u2019 chances of winning the World Series in 2026 if they were to land him, but based on the set of circumstances required to bring in the lefty, they\u2019ll most likely just have to wait until he hits the open market.<\/p>\n

What would your Tarik Skubal trade package look like?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MLB insider Tom Verducci explained why the Los Angeles Dodgers are unlikely to make a trade with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2386],"tags":[152,18241,5,147,53,2583,39,8783,4,382,594,8579],"class_list":{"0":"post-573334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-tigers","8":"tag-american-league","9":"tag-american-league-central","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-detroit","12":"tag-detroit-tigers","13":"tag-detroittigers","14":"tag-dodgers","15":"tag-miguel-cabrera","16":"tag-mlb","17":"tag-tarik-skubal","18":"tag-tigers","19":"tag-tom-verducci"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116072552336712500","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}