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Ken Rosenthal is telling people to “look out” for the Dodgers making a run at Tarik Skubal, per his latest comments reported by ClutchPoints. This goes beyond the column-level speculation we’ve already seen — when Rosenthal uses that kind of language, it typically means he’s hearing real rumblings from people involved in discussions. The Dodgers appear to be serious about landing the Tigers’ ace before the trade deadline.

Skubal has firmly 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 in 192 innings, and he’s continued pitching at an elite level since. The left-hander combines a devastating slider with a fastball that plays up thanks to excellent extension and spin characteristics. He’s under team control through the 2026 season, which is critical context here — Detroit would be trading a rental, not a long-term asset, and that changes the prospect cost significantly. For Skubal personally, a move to the Dodgers would put him on a legitimate World Series contender and in the national spotlight every five days.

The Tigers have been in a complicated spot. They made a surprising playoff push in 2024 and tried to build on that momentum, but if they’re sellers at the deadline, Skubal is far and away their most valuable trade chip. Detroit’s front office knows what they have, and they’ll demand a significant return — but the fact that Skubal is a rental rather than a controlled asset works in the Dodgers’ favor from a price standpoint.

For the Dodgers, this makes a ton of sense. Our rotation has been good but not dominant, and adding Skubal would give us a legitimate 1-2 punch that very few teams in baseball could match. The Dodgers’ farm system, while not as deep as it was a few years ago, still has pieces that could entice Detroit — particularly pitching prospects and middle-infield depth that the Tigers badly need for their rebuild timeline.

I think the key question isn’t whether the Dodgers want Skubal — that’s obvious. It’s whether Andrew Friedman is willing to pay the premium Detroit will demand. Rosenthal flagging this publicly suggests the Dodgers aren’t just window shopping. They’re engaged. The trade deadline is still a couple weeks away, and a lot can shift between now and then, but this feels like a pursuit with real momentum behind it. If the Dodgers land Skubal, our October rotation looks dramatically different — and that’s the whole point.

Source(s): Ken Rosenthal (ClutchPoints) | First reported: July 17, 2026 11:09 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers