<\/p>\n
Even with the Detroit Tigers\u00a0<\/a>still in the playoff race, A.J. Hinch’s team might not be good enough to make a deep postseason run.<\/p>\n As such, and given his contract situation, keeping Tarik Skubal past the Aug. 3 trade deadline might not be the best asset management.<\/p>\n So, with the two-time AL Cy Young winner likely being the biggest fish up for grabs, there will be no shortage of teams keeping tabs on his services.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, just one of those teams might have Skubal’s stamp of approval. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Skubal wants to play for the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey could sit back and rely on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki and hope that Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow return to form after coming off the IL, and All-Star Justin Wrobleski will still be fresh after already pitching a career-high 112\u2154 innings,\u201d Nightengale wrote<\/a>. \u201cOr the Dodgers could grab Skubal, knowing that they are considered his first preference, anyway, when he becomes a free agent. That would not only give them a lethal October rotation, but keep him away from the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Dodgers could use another arm, given that Shohei Ohtani may not be back on the mound after dealing with knee inflammation.<\/p>\n Also, as Nightengale pointed out, there are still some injuries in their rotation.<\/p>\n But perhaps more importantly, the Dodgers may already have Skubal’s free-agency blessing, knowing that no other team in baseball will come close to what they might be willing to pay him.<\/p>\n As such, while he doesn’t have a no-trade clause, teams with no chance of keeping him in free agency might be hesitant to give up a lot to get him, as he’ll be just an expensive rental until the end of the season.<\/p>\n The Dodgers might be “breaking baseball,” according to some fans. But if other teams want to keep up and compete, maybe they just need to start digging into their pockets.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe Dodgers are Tarik Skubal’s preferred destination\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\n