The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled off a trade for Tarik Skubal over the weekend, and fans are once again claiming that the Dodgers are ruining baseball.
Skubal is the reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner and was the prize of this year's trade deadline. He has a 2.79 ERA and will make his Dodgers debut against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field this week. The Dodgers gave up Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith to land him. All three were top 30 prospects for the Dodgers and Hope and Ryan are top 100 prospects.
It was not as steep a price as many expected. Hope is the centerpiece, and Ryan is a 28-year-old prospect who switched to pitching a few years ago. It's honestly an offer that many teams could have beat, but they didn't. The Dodgers' ability to spend makes it easier for them to part with prospects, and their aggressive nature has upset fans.
"Passionately disagree," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said when asked if he thought the Dodgers were ruining baseball.
The team has no real weaknesses and has won the last two World Series. Their rotation has two Cy Young Award winners now, and also features Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Justin Wrobleski. After winning the World Series last year, the Dodgers signed Edwin Díaz, the best closer in the National League last season, and Kyle Tucker, the top free agent.
Not every team is going to have an owner as willing to spend as the Dodgers, but Skubal was a rental on the trade market. Essentially, every team has an opportunity to get him, but did not pull the trigger.
Dave Roberts has alluded to the Dodgers ruining baseball in the past. After last season's National League Championship Series, he said, "I'll tell ya, before this season started, they said, 'The Dodgers are ruining baseball.' Let's get four more wins and really ruin baseball! Let's go!"
With whispers of a salary cap and lockout coming in the offseason, the Dodgers' three-peating would help the owners' case for a salary cap. The team has never shied away from big moves in pursuit of championships. The real question is why other owners and front offices don't operate the same way.