The Los Angeles Dodgers landed the top prize of the MLB trade deadline on Saturday night, acquiring Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers.
Most baseball fans and media likely aren’t surprised that the Dodgers were the team to get Skubal. They have a way of getting the top players available, whether in trade or free agency. And MLB players feel the same way.
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Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Megill voiced those sentiments when asked about Skubal going to the Dodgers after the trade was reported. The development is a one-two punch to the Brewers, who will likely compete with the Dodgers for the National League pennant and hoped they would be the team to add Skubal for their playoff drive.
“I don’t think anybody’s surprised he went there,” Megill told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak with a laugh. “When they came out the other day and said they were gonna be greedy, I think the whole world could take that serious, that they’d probably make that happen.”
“Our job is just to play baseball with the team they give us and the guys in this room,” he added. “We see [Brewers general manager] Matt [Arnold] in here a lot the last couple of days — sure he’s pretty busy — but we’re just being patient, seeing what happens. If not, let’s just go with what we’ve got.”
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At 69-41 going into Sunday’s play, the Brewers are a half-game ahead of the Dodgers for the best record in the National League and MLB overall. Adding Skubal could have improved Milwaukee’s chances of finishing ahead of the Dodgers, getting a first-round bye in the playoffs and having home-field advantage in a possible postseason matchup.
Instead, it’s the Dodgers who will receive a boost from the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner, teaming him up with an already formidable starting rotation that includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow soon to return from injury.
“Why couldn’t a team like the Brewers or the Braves or whoever step in?” Los Angeles Angels broadcaster Wayne Randazzo said on-air after news of the Skubal trade broke. “It’s an open market. Anybody can go and get Skubal. This is not about money. This is about trading prospects. How could these other teams allow that to happen?”
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But Milwaukee still has nearly two days before the Aug. 3 trade deadline at 6 p.m. ET and several other starting pitchers are available, including the Minnesota Twins’ Joe Ryan, Robbie Ray of the San Francisco Giants, Angels left-hander Reid Detmers and Skubal’s former Tigers teammate Casey Mize.
The Brewers have a strong pitching staff of their own, leading the NL with a 3.48 ERA (and a starters’ ERA of 3.36).
Ace Jacob Misiorowski is having a Cy Young Award-caliber season, Shane Drohan is impressing as a rookie (3.48 ERA, 9.1 strikeouts per 9 innings) and Kyle Harrison is set to return from the injured list this week. But the rotation could use a replacement for Brandon Woodruff, out for the remainder of the season after shoulder surgery.
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