Dodgers can stun MLB with next best thing to Tarik Skubal trade

Tarik Skubal is the apple of everyone's eye this offseason, and if the Los Angeles Dodgers had a chance they'd give up what one expert suggests (and much more) to land the superstar southpaw.

The general sentiment around the league, however, is that Skubal will not be moved this offseason. After all, it is nearly impossible for the Detroit Tigers, a team that still has eyes on contending, to get anywhere close to equal value back for Skubal. Even if they did, whichever team hypothetically acquired him would have little shot to convince the Scott Boras client to forego selling his wares on the open market and sign an extension.

As a result, the Dodgers will likely have to wait a year before getting their crack at luring Skubal to Hollywood. In the meantime, there is an ace who definitely is available and was also loosely connected to Los Angeles back at the trade deadline in the form of Minnesota Twins' stud Joe Ryan.

Dodgers Rumors: Joe Ryan trade would help LA shift focus properly

The primary thing that makes Skubal so special is his ability to rack up the strikeouts while rarely giving up the free pass. Typically speaking, high-strikeout pitchers tend to be less efficient and can be bitten by the walk.

Not Skubal, though, and few are in his class. In terms of strikeout prowess and control excellence, he really only has one peer: Joe Ryan.

Since 2023, only one starter has posted 10+ K/9 and under two BB/9, and that is Ryan. The 29-year-old right-hander posted a 28.2% strikeout rate, which came in the 84th percentile, while also recording a minuscule 5.7% walk rate (87th percentile) in 2025. Skubal, of course, was on a different planet, recording a 32.2% K-rate and 4.4% BB-rate (94th and 97th percentiles, respectively), but Ryan is in his orbit.

Additionally, Ryan yielded a .213 expected batting average, a stupendous mark that comes in as an 82nd percentile performance.

Not that it matters for the Dodgers, but Ryan comes with two more years of team control and has a projected arbitration salary of just $5.8 million for the 2026 season. He'd cost a pretty penny in a trade, and the Dodgers don't exactly need him in their rotation, but keeping Skubal-lite away from a competitor has value above and beyond what he produces on the mound.

If Los Angeles truly wants to be the biggest bully on the block, the front office could trade for Ryan and then sign Skubal next offseason, giving the team a 2027 rotation that would feature both aces in addition to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and the rest of the gang. If that were to happen, it'd be game over for the rest of the league.