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Multiple baseball executives believe Tarik Skubal will be traded before the deadline, with the Dodgers viewed as the favorite to land him, per Robert Murray at FanSided. This tracks with what we’ve been hearing from multiple reporters over the past week — the Dodgers have been zeroing in on the Tigers’ ace, and the front office has done little to hide it.

Skubal has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2024 after posting a 2.39 ERA with 228 strikeouts across 192 innings for Detroit. The lefty underwent flexor tendon surgery in 2022 that cost him significant time, but he came back stronger than ever and has been dominant since. He’s under team control through 2026 as a free agent after this season, which is part of what makes this situation so fascinating — Detroit is weighing a massive return in prospects against losing him for nothing in a few months. For the Dodgers, acquiring Skubal would give them an undeniable ace at the top of the rotation, the kind of pitcher who can shut down any lineup in October.

The fact that rival executives are now openly predicting this deal happens tells you how far along things have gotten. This isn’t idle speculation anymore. We’ve already seen Jeff Passan report that a Skubal trade to Los Angeles is “expected,” and Andrew Friedman essentially tipped his hand during his recent media availability. Now the executive class around the league is treating it as a foregone conclusion. That’s significant.

For the Dodgers, this comes at a critical time. Shohei Ohtani has been shut down from pitching with a right biceps issue on top of his ongoing knee concerns, and the timeline for Tyler Glasnow to return from the injured list — while encouraging — still leaves the rotation needing a true frontline arm for the stretch run and postseason. Blake Snell is working his way back via rehab assignments, but even with him returning, adding Skubal would transform this pitching staff from good to historically deep.

The cost will be steep. Detroit isn’t going to give away a Cy Young winner for anything less than a franchise-altering package, and the Dodgers’ farm system, while not as loaded as it was a few years ago, still has pieces that could get this done. I expect we’ll hear names like Dalton Rushing and other top prospects floated in the coming hours. The Dodgers have shown repeatedly under Friedman that they’ll pay the prospect price when they believe the move puts them over the top. This feels like one of those moments.

We’re watching the biggest trade of the deadline take shape in real time. The league expects it to happen, and honestly, so do I.

Source(s): Robert Murray (FanSided) | First reported: July 31, 2026 3:03 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers