The Los Angeles Dodgers are preparing to enter the final test in their quest for a repeat World Series championship.
After a tense American League Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays earned the right to host the Dodgers in the first World Series game on Friday. And the Dodgers are entering the matchup as a heavy favorite, thanks in large part to another blockbuster offseason that reloaded their roster with top-tier talent.
Whether or not the Dodgers make good on their hopes for a back-to-back championship, it seems their strategy of continuously securing the best available talent over the winter will continue. And in this coming offseason, that might mean swinging a blockbuster trade for Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.
“Tarik Skubal will be entering his final year prior to free agency, leaving the Tigers in a quandary,” Mark Feinsand wrote for MLB.com. “Trading Skubal would certainly have a negative impact on the Tigers in 2026. But given the type of contract the ace is expected to seek next offseason, president of baseball operations Scott Harris must consider whether he believes he can meet that price to keep Skubal in Detroit, or whether trading the pitcher now for a haul of players/prospects is a better long-term play for the club.”
With the Tigers potentially listening to trade ideas for Skubal, any number of contending teams will be sending in their offers. And Feinsand noted that the Dodgers can’t be counted out from the sweepstakes, as they are a threat to obtain virtually any available star player.
The Dodgers also might have an advantage in obtaining Skubal thanks to a deep farm system that is headlined by the kind of top-tier prospect who can headline an intriguing trade package.
“A Dodgers deal would potentially have to include outfielder Josue De Paula, Los Angeles’ No. 1 prospect and the No. 13 prospect in baseball,” Feinsand added. “The Dodgers have seven players currently on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list — not to mention an inexpensive, budding star in Roki Sasaki — giving president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman a number of chips to use in a deal if he chooses to make his pitching-rich club even richer.”
The Dodgers have returned to the World Series thanks to some deep starting pitching, which projects to be just as strong next year. If Skubal gets added to the rotation, the team will have unquestionably the best starting pitching depth in all of baseball.
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