By JOSH DUBOW<\/p>\n
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired the biggest prize on the trade deadline market, getting two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Skubal got the news during the Tigers\u2019 8-6 win over the Athletics<\/a> and was emotional after the game as he prepared to leave the team that drafted him in 2018 and developed him into a star to join the two-time defending World Series champions.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to be a Dodger,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to get down there and meet all those guys and chase three championships in a row. That\u2019s hard to do, so I\u2019m so excited to a part of that. But it\u2019s a lot of different emotions. Definitely kind of a roller coaster a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Skubal is the latest star to join the high-priced roster for the Dodgers that already has big-name players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mookie Betts. If everyone is healthy, he could be part of a rotation with Ohtani, reigning World Series MVP Yamamoto, fellow two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. The Dodgers lead the majors with a 3.36 ERA from their starting pitchers and now add Skubal to the mix.<\/p>\n 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. They 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<\/a>. They will pay Skubal about $9.5 million for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n ESPN first reported the deal and said the Tigers would receive three minor league prospects in right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith and outfielder Zyhir Hope. <\/p>\n Skubal is eligible for free agency after the World Series. He has a $32 million salary, a record total in arbitration<\/a>, after the team offered $19 million, and is expected to sign a massive contract in the offseason.<\/p>\n The 29-year-old lefty said in July that it was his preference to finish the season with the Tigers and to compete for a World Series championship, which has eluded the franchise since 1984. Skubal took the loss in the decisive Game 5 of the division series against Cleveland in 2024 and then got a no-decision in a 15-inning loss to Seattle in Game 5 of the division series last year.<\/p>\n He said it was \u201cvery tough\u201d to leave the Tigers having fallen short of the goal of winning a title.<\/p>\n \u201cEver since that \u201924 Game 5, the failure that I experienced on the mound, I\u2019ve used that as fuel to try and bring a World Series to the city of Detroit. I truly did,\u201d he said. \u201cThat whole offseason I\u2019ve never been more motivated and then go in and we lose Game 5 again. That failure kind of sparks some more motivation, just to dig deeper and see how good you can truly be. The goal was always to win a World Series for the city, for the organization that took a chance on me. It\u2019s tough. I love all those guys in there. They\u2019re some of my best friends.\u201d <\/p>\n Detroit planned to contend again this season, bolstering the Skubal-led rotation by giving two-time All-Star pitcher Framber Valdez<\/a> a $115 million, three-year contract in free agency and retaining three-time All-Star infielder Gleyber Torres with a $22 million deal.<\/p>\n The Tigers, though, got off to a rough start and are currently 2 1\/2 games out of the last wild-card spot in the American League.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy. Going into the season, this isn\u2019t what I planned on doing,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cBut circumstances change, situations change, and I\u2019m very appreciative of everything the Tigers have done for me.\u201d <\/p>\n 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<\/a>, catcher Dillon Dingler and outfielder Riley Greene. <\/p>\n With a chance to possibly persuade management to keep Skubal by improving its playoff positioning, Detroit lost ground by dropping four of its last five games at home, including Skubal\u2019s last start that was made even more memorable by a late-inning collapse.<\/p>\n The Tigers led Baltimore 7-0 after six innings Wednesday and lost 10-9 in 12 innings. Skubal<\/a> started the game, recorded his 1,000th career strikeout and was cheered at every opportunity by a crowd of 34,406. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve watched this guy rise to the top of the sport,\u201d manager A.J. Hinch said. \u201cHe\u2019s carried us a lot. I\u2019ll forever be grateful that our paths crossed and the things that he did for this organization and for a couple of playoff teams. His presence, his work ethic, his example, his dominance. There\u2019s so much to go through, it\u2019s hard to capture in one quote or kind of one setting. But I\u2019m very grateful that I was able to manage him for the time that I did.\u201d<\/p>\n Skubal is 7-5 this season with a 2.79 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 96 2\/3 innings. He is 61-42 with a 3.04 ERA over seven seasons, all in Detroit. In two postseasons, Skubal is 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in six starts.<\/p>\n