WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired the biggest prize on the trade deadline market, getting two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers.
The two-time defending World Series champions added another big piece to their-star high-priced roster that already big-name players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mookie Betts.
The Dodgers are in first place in the NL West and were already
the favorites to become the first team to three-peat since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000 before adding Skubal.
ESPN first reported the deal and said the Tigers would receive three minor league prospects in right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith and outfielder Zyhir Hope.
The deal was agreed to during the Tigers win over the A’s on Saturday night that moved them within 2 1/2 games of the final wild-card spot in the American League. But it wasn’t enough for them to keep Skubal.
Skubal is eligible for free agency after the World Series. He has a $32 million salary, a record total in arbitration, after the team offered $19 million, and is expected to sign a massive contract in the offseason.
The 29-year-old lefty said in July that it was his preference to finish the season with the Tigers to compete for a World Series championship, which has eluded the franchise since 1984.
Detroit planned to contend again this season, bolstering the Skubal-led rotation by giving two-time All-Star pitcher Framber Valdez a $115 million, three-year contract in free agency and retaining three-time All-Star infielder Gleyber Torres with a $22 million deal.
The Tigers, though, got off to a rough start and slumped to 16 games under .500 with about 100 games remaining.
They bounced back in June and most of July to get into playoff contention with Skubal leading a rotation and three All-Stars in the lineup: rookie infielder Kevin McGonigle, catcher Dillon Dingler and outfielder Riley Greene.
With a chance to possibly persuade management to keep Skubal by improving its playoff positioning, Detroit lost ground by dropping four of its last five games at home, including Skubal’s last start that was made even more memorable by a late-inning collapse.
The Tigers led Baltimore 7-0 after six innings Wednesday and lost 10-9 in 12 innings. Skubal started the game, recorded his 1,000th career strikeout and was cheered at every opportunity by a crowd of 34,406.
Skubal is 7-5 this season with a 2.79 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings. He is 61-42 with a 3.04 ERA over seven seasons, all in Detroit. In two postseasons, Skubal is 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in six starts.
Skubal had a minimally invasive surgery on May 6 to remove a loose body from his pitching elbow and returned to pitch on June 13.
“The way the surgery went is exactly how it was supposed to go,” he said in July.
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