Shaikin: Dodgers traded just 3 minor leaguers for Tarik Skubal. Why couldn’t your team do that?

By admin — In News — August 2, 2026

   ​Tarik Skubal delivers for the Detroit Tigers against the Athletics on July 7. Skubal was traded to the Dodgers on Saturday night. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)Your team could have done this.Is baseball headed for a lockout this winter? Yes.Because the Dodgers traded for Tarik Skubal? No.The Dodgers play a video before each home game, which includes these words from a sinister-sounding voice: “You need teams like us to point your finger and say, ‘That’s the bad guy.’ ”In this case, “you” means the owners of the other 29 teams. You can hear them wailing now: Baseball is rigged, and only a salary cap can unrig the sport. The Dodgers are the back-to-back champions, and they just picked up the best player on the trade market.They. Have. Too. Much. Damn. Money.Read more:Plaschke: Tarik Skubal trade brings Dodgers hate, envy … and another championshipBut here’s the thing: All the money the Dodgers lavish upon their major league roster isn’t what made the trade for Skubal possible.Oh, all that money helped put them in position to where Skubal could help them in October, but Skubal could have helped the Milwaukee Brewers or the Chicago Cubs or the Tampa Bay Rays or the Atlanta Braves or the New York Yankees or the Philadelphia Phillies.When the Detroit Tigers took bids for Skubal, they liked the Dodgers’ offer the best. And here is what the Dodgers offered: three prospects, none a first-rounder, none ranked among baseball’s top 20 prospects.Outfielder Zyhir Hope was drafted in the 11th round, by the Cubs. When the Cubs needed a corner infielder, the Dodgers shipped them a surplus major leaguer, Michael Busch, in exchange for two prospects. One was Hope, whose professional experience was limited to 11 games of rookie ball.Pitcher River Ryan was drafted in the 11th round, by the San Diego Padres. When the Padres needed a left-handed bat that could play the outfield, the Dodgers shipped them a surplus major leaguer, Matt Beaty, for a prospect that had yet to make his professional debut, Ryan.Pitcher Brady Smith was drafted in the third round, by the Dodgers. This is his second professional season.The Dodgers developed Hope and Ryan from minor leaguers into top prospects, and the Tigers hope some of that Dodgers development dust has rubbed off on Smith.Tarik Skubal delivers during a game between the Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles on July 29. (Paul Sancya / Associated Press)For now? The prospect rankings on the league website put Hope at No. 25 and Ryan at No. 68. The Baseball America prospect rankings put Hope at No. 55, with Ryan outside the top 100. Neither ranking includes Smith among the top 100.As Baseball America editor-in-chief J.J. Cooper wrote, Hope was the third-best outfielder on the Dodgers’ double-A team.That might be the greatest testament of all to the Dodgers’ player development system, particularly considering all of their winning means they draft at the end of every round, every year.Maybe the trio o  

Content Source: Yahoo News

Image Credit: Getty Images

All rights to the news content and images belong to their respective copyright owners.