The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, but now they must fight to keep him on the open market.
If the Dodgers want the two-time Cy Young Award winner to remain in their rotation, it will take them winning another bidding war. Skubal is expected to sign a record-breaking contract this offseason, and it's possible he's looking to do so before the impending lockout.
Plenty of big-market teams will throw their hat in the ring, but Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller predicted he would land with the New York Mets.
New York Mets insider Chelsea Janes thinks the Mets will match the money on any deal Skubal is offered, and it will simply come down to whether he wants to be a Met. If Steve Cohen wants him in Queens, he will not be denied on the open market.
David Stearns is usually against paying big for pitchers on the wrong side of 30, but even he knows the team needs to address the starting rotation.
"I do think it is necessary for us to add to our rotation," Stearns said in his end-of-season press conference. "We can do that in a variety of different ways. We've talked about this plenty before -- you'd always love to add to the top of your rotation, any team would love to do that -- over the long term, what we need to do is develop pitchers at the top of our rotation, and I think we are proving we can do that, and we'll continue to do that."
Skubal would give the Mets a true ace who will be in Cy Young Award conversations. They will still need to fill out the rotation behind him, but Nolan McLean would be a stellar No. 2.