Dodgers’ Tarik Skubal Gets Intriguing Outlook Before Braves Series
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tarik Skubal might be a short-term marriage. Skubal will be a free agent after the 2026 MLB season, and as a Scott Boras client, the starting pitcher will be looking for a lucrative contract.
Los Angeles isn’t afraid to spend money, as it has shown in the past. Nonetheless, it doesn’t appear, with how manager Dave Roberts is using Skubal, that the 29-year-old is long for the Dodgers.
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WFAN’s Evan Roberts believes that the reigning back-to-back World Series champions are using Skubal as much as they can because Los Angeles knows it will let the veteran pitcher walk as a free agent.
“It’s August and the Dodgers have already had Tarik Skubal throw the most pitches he’s ever thrown in a game in his career and then the third most,” Roberts said in an Aug. 24 video from WFAN. “Does anyone find that peculiar? Does anyone find that to be exactly what I’m telling you?
“The Los Angeles Dodgers are not serious about keeping this guy, and this has nothing to do with the ownership situation and Mark Walter and what he’s involved with.”
Skubal has a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 3.38 and 30 strikeouts in four appearances while pitching 24.0 innings since joining the Dodgers midseason, per StatMuse.
Dodgers Don’t Appear to Be Protecting Tarik Skubal
Moreover, another reason Roberts believes Skubal isn’t long for Los Angeles is that the Dodgers aren’t handling the former Detroit Tigers pitcher with greater care, such as by managing his innings and pitch count.
“Dave Roberts has been told by [Dodgers president of baseball operations] Andrew Friedman, use him and use him hard because he ain’t gonna be here next year and he ain’t gonna be here the year after that,” Roberts added.
“If they were ever serious about giving this man a 10-year contract, there was no way in August, months after surgery, that they would be doing this. They’re not serious about keeping him.”
Skubal is coming off missing time earlier in the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in May 2026 to remove a loose body (bone chip) from his left pitching elbow. Nonetheless, it appears that with the Dodgers, there are no restrictions for Skubal.
Could Mets Be Landing Spot for Tarik Skubal?
Meanwhile, as for where Skubal might end up, Roberts doesn’t see the veteran returning to Detroit and believes the New York Mets are his next destination once he hits free agency.
“If [the Dodgers are] not serious about keeping him, you can lock it up and you can put it away [that] Tarik Skubal will be a member of the New York Mets,” Roberts said. “That’s a done deal. They’re the only team that’ll bid on him. Honestly, name me another team that’s going to bid on him.”
It will be interesting to see if, after their disappointing season, the New York Mets would splurge this offseason to sign a No. 1 starter to anchor their rotation. The Mets tried to have Freddy Peralta be the anchor to their rotation, but that experiment didn’t end well for New York.
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