Tarik Skubal, the two-time Cy Young Award winner, is set to ink a record-breaking contract this offseason. But for him, it is not all about the massive paycheck: he is chasing a lengthy deal, and that preference could seriously roadblock the Dodgers’ hopes of landing him. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Skubal has zero interest in the shorter-term, higher-dollar contracts the Dodgers have usually leveraged, which puts them at a real disadvantage against teams like the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, or Toronto Blue Jays.
Dodgers’ Usual Playbook Just Hit a Wall
Look, the Dodgers are kings at signing players to deals with deferred money or short-term agreements packed with huge total value. It is their thing, their M.O. But Skubal is not Kyle Tucker last offseason; he is not looking for that kind of deal. This is a guy who wants to lock it in for the long haul. Now, it is not like the Dodgers cannot do long-term deals. They absolutely have, think Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They have dropped the cash for big names before. However, with “everything going on with Mark Walter outside of baseball right now,” dropping a double-digit-year deal might be a bit tougher this time around. It is not impossible, though, because come on, they are still the Dodgers. They can compete financially with pretty much anyone.
GM Gomes Weighs The Team’s Real Needs
This whole situation comes right after the Dodgers got swept in the National League Championship Series, a series where their offense completely vanished. And here is the thing: they won back-to-back World Series with weaker rotations than the one they rolled out this October. So, they need to seriously evaluate if spending massive money on Skubal, especially on a long-term deal, is what their team *really* needs right now. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes even said it himself on Tuesday, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale: “He was awesome to get to know… We know what kind of pitcher he is. So, for us, it’s understanding what this all looks like, as far as what does our team need? What does the contract look like? Where does he end up? I don’t know.” That sounds like a team trying to figure out if their desire for Skubal aligns with his demands and their own roster construction. If Skubal is dead set on a super long-term deal, the Dodgers are going to have to hope that the “allure of winning” is enough to make him change his mind. Otherwise, they are going to be watching a two-time Cy Young winner head somewhere else. This offseason is already heating up!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply