Tarik Skubal is a Los Angeles Dodger.
Even with advanced warning of this trade being possible if not likely, the baseball world seemed completely stunned it actually happened. As if the season ended, and there's nothing left to play for.
"This is a sad day for a lot of us," one National League executive told USA TODAY Sports' Bob Nightengale
. "The Dodgers have Skubal now, and they’re going to have him in the future.""No use playing the rest of the year. It’s over," another executive said.
Then, why didn't any of you do something to stop it?
Why didn't the Milwaukee Brewers trade for Skubal? What about the Tampa Bay Rays? The Chicago Cubs? Also, the Detroit Tigers didn't have to trade him, though I understand why they did.
WHO'S LEFT: Best available
starters after the Skubal trade
It's one thing to dislike LA's deep pockets, bloated payroll that includes over $1 billion in deferred money, and that feeling of Dodgers inevitability whenever a big name becomes available. But those things don't completely apply here.
All it took was three prospects -- just two in the top-100 -- for the Dodgers to pry Skubal away from Detroit (see our trade grades here). The best of whom was the fifth-ranked player in the Dodgers' farm system.
It's understood that teams operate with different budgets, and some have to put more consideration into whether they can re-sign a player like Skubal before giving away young potential building blocks for a half-season rental. But at some point you put your chips in the middle of the table and go for it.
Unfair as it may be, that's the reality of the current non-capped salary system every MLB owner bought into. Championship-starved fans shouldn't accept the narrative of penny-pinching billionaires. Far too often, complaints about the Dodgers' spending lets other teams off the hook for not doing all they can to win.
If no other contenders were willing to beat LA's modest deal for the back-to-back AL Cy Young winner, be mad at those teams, not the Dodgers.
That logic applies to the rest of the roster too. The Angels let this generation's greatest player, Shohei Ohtani, walk right out the door. The Braves let Freddie Freeman walk too. The Red Sox decided they didn't want to pay Mookie Betts. The Dodgers aren't the juggernaut they've become without the help of those other teams being unwilling to write checks the Dodgers were.
Yankees trade for Luis García Jr.
Also on the move Sunday was Washington Nationals first baseman Luis García Jr., who was acquired by the New York Yankees. With García in the midst of a career year, Andrew Joseph is surprised Washington didn't do better in the deal.
"It's always difficult to judge prospect returns, but the Nationals probably could have held out for a top prospect among the potential suitors. Cebert and Grable should both develop into contributing pitchers, but they're likely a couple years away. The haul is a bit underwhelming once you consider what an extra year of García could bring to teams."
Here's how Andrew graded the trade for the Nationals and Yankees.
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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Dodgers haters are mad at the wrong team
