Dodgers Acquire Skubal From Tigers For Three Prospects
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- The Dodgers acquired Skubal from the Tigers for outfielder Zhyir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith, with the 29-year-old ace expected to start Game 1 of a rotation that already led MLB in run-differential.
- Skubal posted a 2.79 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 96⅔ innings across 16 starts this season, and his July ERA sits at 2.03 after returning from a NanoScope procedure on bone chips in his left elbow roughly six weeks after late April irritation.
- Skubal will join Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow in Los Angeles — three of whom are working back from injuries, with Snell set to rejoin after his next rehab outing and Glasnow beginning a minor-league rehab assignment next week.
- The Tigers also fielded offers from the Braves, Cubs, Brewers, Yankees and Rays, with Milwaukee considered the deepest prospect pool among that group, but the Dodgers were the clear frontrunners throughout; Detroit had doubled down on contention by signing Framber Valdez to a three-year, $115 million deal last offseason before collapsing to seven games under .500.
- Hope and Ryan both ranked among ESPN's top-50 prospects — Hope slashing .293/.369/.530 with 23 home runs and 18 steals in Double-A, Ryan putting up a 1.33 ERA in four 2024 MLB starts before Tommy John surgery — while the Dodgers kept their top young arms Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki.
- Skubal, who earned a $32 million salary through arbitration after the sides were $13 million apart, will hit free agency in three months and got choked up in the visiting clubhouse in Sacramento addressing his departure from Detroit.
Why it matters: The Dodgers just added a back-to-back Cy Young winner to a rotation that already produced MLB's highest run-differential, strengthening their bid to become the first NL club to win three straight titles. Detroit, which signed Framber Valdez to a $115M deal last offseason, pivots to rebuilding around two top-50 prospects while Skubal heads to free agency.
