The race for the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes has begun, and the Dodgers are once again in the mix for the best free agent talent on the market.
While the left-hander will be stripped of his title as the reigning two-time American League Cy Young winner over the coming days, he is the ultimate envy of any team that can afford his services. In their pursuit of re-signing the team’s Game 1 starter of the postseason, the Dodgers will be meeting with Skubal, yet the details surrounding when and where the meeting will take
place have yet to be disclosed, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
“We’ve been in touch with his camp, and our expectation is we’ll meet at some point,” [Brandon] Gomes told reporters, including MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas.
The Dodgers are competing with teams such as the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres in the hunt for Skubal, and the Mets have already scheduled a meeting with Skubal for next week, per Jorge Castillo of ESPN. Castillo notes that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns declined to comment on their pursuit of Skubal.
LAS VEGAS — The New York Mets are scheduled to meet with left-handed pitcher Tarik Skubal, the prize of this offseason’s free agent class, next week in California, a source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
No player in the history of Major League Baseball has been handed a nine-figure salary for one year of service, but Dylan Hernandez of the California Post makes an outlandish proposal for the Dodgers to offer Skubal a one-year deal for $100 million.
They will have to offer Skubal enough money to forfeit the security of a longer deal. What about $100 million to pitch for them next year? Perhaps a player option or two after that? If nine figures for one season of baseball sounds expensive, consider the cost of not retaining Skubal.
Former Dodgers shortstop and 2020 World Series MVP Corey Seager could be finding greener pastures for 2027 and beyond, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Texas Rangers intend on trading Seager this offseason.
The Rangers, though, intend to explore moving Seager at the general managers’ meetings, according to people briefed on their intentions who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
