Brewers lose Tarik Skubal sweepstakes as Dodgers swoop in with frustrating blockbuster deal

Unfortunately, what felt like the inevitable happened. The reigning back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, whose recent success is causing disputes in regard to the fairness of Major League Baseball's current lack of a salary cap, have traded for the top name on the trade market, Detroit Tigers' ace Tarik Skubal, to bolster their chances of "three-peating" in 2026.

The Dodgers will form a super rotation with Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani (assuming he returns to the mound after a series of midseason injuries) for the postseason. Outside of Yamamoto, none of those arms listed above will have logged a full season of starts by the time the postseason rolls around, suggesting the Dodgers' rotation will be well-rested, like it was last year, when the playoffs arrive. Even still, despite a majority of their rotation being out for much of the 2026 season, the Dodgers are expected to grab one of the two top playoff seeds in the National League, which would grant them a first-round bye and allow them to line up their lethal rotation for the divisional series and beyond.

The other National League team currently in line to grab a first-round bye in the 2026 postseason is the Milwaukee Brewers, who, after their Saturday night victory, have the best record in MLB. The Brewers were reportedly in conversations to land Skubal, which would have given them a dominant trio of Jacob Misiorowski, Skubal, and Kyle Harrison atop their rotation as they try to topple the mighty Dodgers, but their seemingly more valuable offer apparently wasn't enough. Instead, the Dodgers have added Skubal to the dynasty in Los Angeles for what feels like a worse offer than what they could have landed from the Brew Crew.

Dodgers land top trade deadline target Tarik Skubal for package Brewers certainly could have bested

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the Dodgers' trade for the reigning back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner is the fact that the trade package Los Angeles surrendered for Skubal feels like it could have certainly been matched by the Brewers. The Dodgers gave up a sizable haul -- one that MLB.com Brewers beat reporter Adam McCalvy suggests would have required Logan Henderson, Luis Peña, and either Bishop Letson or Josh Knoth to top -- but the price Los Angeles was reportedly asking for from Milwaukee seems far more valuable than the package the ended up commanding from the Dodgers. Given the final trade, it feels as if a package of Peña, Robert Gasser, and Bryce Meccage should have gotten the deal across the finish line for the Brewers.

Alas, Skubal lands with the Dodgers, and the Brewers will now have to switch their attention at the trade deadline elsewhere. Perhaps Matt Arnold and company redirect their prospect capital to another frontline starter, or maybe their resources are used on forming a "super bullpen," but either way, the Brewers' front office now has time to pivot before Monday evening's trade deadline.

As discouraging as it might be for Brewers fans to see one of the best starters in baseball join the pitching-rich Dodgers for the final stretch of the season, one thing to remember is that everything has to go right for Los Angeles in 2026 just as it did in 2025 for them to form a dominant postseason rotation. A season ago, Snell and Glasnow returned at the exact right time and were fresh for the Dodgers' dominance of the Brewers in the NLCS. Ohtani also dominated on the mound during his memorable Game 4 performance. However, as was the case last year, the Dodgers will need the aforementioned arms to return from their respective injuries just as well as they did last year to construct one of the best rotations of all time.

Regardless of the arms currently on the injured list, the Dodgers are pairing Skubal and Yamamoto, two of the best starting pitchers in the sport, at the top of their lineup, forming a duo that no contending team wants to face in October. It's disheartening seeing Los Angeles win another one of these deadline battles, just as they did with Manny Machado in 2018, but the Brewers can respond with an impact move before the deadline to re-calibrate the pennant race in the National League. With Skubal set to wear Dodger blue, the Brewers' front office needs a significant move before Monday evening if they hope to eventually compete with Los Angeles in the postseason.

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