The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquire starting pitcher Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a package of 3 prospects late Saturday night.
The full deal will see outfielder Zyhir Hope, and RHP River Ryan and Brady Smith head to the Motor City in exchange for the reigning Cy Young Award winner. While Ryan and Smith are both intriguing arms who will likely make an impact for the Tigers at some point, the real centrepiece of the deal is Hope.
The 21 year old is currently hitting .293/.369/.530 at Double-A this season, and is viewed as a consensus top 60 prospect in the sport by scouts. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as the 25th best prospect in the minors, while Baseball America had him ranked 55th overall.
While Ryan has flashed elite numbers (a 1.33 ERA across 4 MLB starts in 2024), his propensity to be injured has largely limited his availability for Los Angeles to date. Since being drafted in 2021, he’s logged just 233 total innings as a professional, though his 27.2% strikeout rate with Triple-A Oklahoma City this year is encouraging.
Finally, Smith appears to be a ways away from contending for a spot in the big leagues at this point. After being drafted in 2023, he missed all of 2024 due to injury. He then logged just 21 innings in 2025, but has been promoted to High-A this season and has sat down 113 batters across 74.1IP at all levels.
For the Dodgers, it’s another case of the rich getting richer, as Skubal now joins a rotation that features (at any given time due to injuries) Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki. Even better still, the club didn’t need to part ways with top prospects Josue De Paula, Mike Sirota, Eduardo Quintero, or Christian Zazueta to get the deal done.
“Going into the season, this isn’t what I planned on doing,” Skubal told reporters after news of the deal officially broke. “But circumstances change, situations change. I’m very appreciative of everything that the Tigers have done for me.”
In what many would consider a breakout season, but by Skubal’s lofty standards is probably closer to a “down year” the 6’3″ lefty has posted a 7-5 record to go alongside a 2.79 ERA, 0.910 WHIP, and 116 Ks across 96.2IP. If all starters are healthy, he and Yamamoto would form some sort of 1A/1B combination to start a potential playoff series, giving Dodgers manager Dave Roberts an embarrassment of riches to choose from when LA reaches the postseason.
Skubal will undoubtedly become the most sought after free agent on the market after the season. And while his trade to Los Angeles will give the Dodgers the inside track to try and woo him into signing a long term deal, the Scott Boras client is sure to command top dollar on his next deal regardless of where he lands.
LA will look to avoid being swept by the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night in the finale of their 3 game series on the west coast. Meanwhile, Detroit will look to make it 3 wins in a row when they take the field in their 4:05pm ET showdown against the Athletics on Sunday.
The Tigers (53-58) remain just 2.5 games back of the final wildcard spot in the American League, though they’ll need to leapfrog 5 teams ahead of them to secure a spot in the postseason if they hope to do so. And without their All-World ace on the mound, that task just became even more daunting.
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