Skubal Traded to Dodgers, Fights Tears in Tigers Farewell
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- Tarik Skubal was traded from the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers during Saturday's game at Sutter Health Park for three prospects: Zyhir Hope, River Ryan, and Brady Smith, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.
- Skubal received the trade phone call in the clubhouse after the second inning and did not return to the dugout for the rest of the game, while teammates Casey Mize, Justin Verlander and Jack Flaherty came back from the clubhouse and fielded questions.
- The back-to-back AL Cy Young winner was drafted in the ninth round out of Seattle University in 2018 and spent nine seasons in the Tigers organization, crediting the club for 'never stopped believing in me' through early-careary struggles.
- Skubal won an arbitration-record $32 million salary this season after the Tigers offered $19 million, and the source notes the team never made a serious effort to sign him to a long-term extension.
- The Tigers were 53-58 and 5½ games back in the AL Central entering the weekend, leaving little choice but to trade the impending free agent rather than lose him for nothing.
- Skubal said as recently as July 23 that his intention was to remain a Tiger, and he specifically cited back-to-back Game 5 ALDS losses to the Cleveland Guardians in 2024 and the Seattle Mariners in 2025 as the fuel for his stated goal of bringing a World Series to Detroit.
- Skubal paused for 13 seconds of silence, wiped his face and said 'Sorry' before composing himself and adding, 'Yeah, it's exciting. I'm excited,' about joining the Dodgers.
Why it matters: Detroit dealt its ace — a back-to-back Cy Young winner who just set an arbitration record at $32 million — rather than risk losing him in free agency for nothing, recouping three prospects while falling further out of the AL Central race at 53-58. For the Dodgers, the acquisition adds a frontline starter under team control rather than through a free-agent bidding war, though Skubal's emotional state underscores how abruptly his nine-year Tigers tenure ended.
