Dodgers insider just indirectly threw cold water on Tarik Skubal trade hopes

Tarik Skubal has been linked to the Los Angeles Dodgers for months due to LA's deep farm system and the franchise's habit of chasing after the biggest fish on the market. The Detroit Tigers' losing season thus far has only enhanced the possibility that Skubal will be traded before the deadline.

On the other end of the win-loss spectrum, the Dodgers are the best team in baseball right now, and that success might actually convince the ever-aggressive Andrew Friedman to cool it when it comes to going after Skubal in the next few weeks.

Given the prospect haul that the Tigers would rightfully demand for Skubal, Friedman might be leaning towards steering clear of a trade, according to new intel from The Athletic's Katie Woo.

Dodgers might be passing on Tarik Skubal at trade deadline

If the Dodgers' rotation were struggling, or if the team in general wasn't as successful right now, Friedman would surely feel differently about a pursuit of Skubal. Again, the Dodgers have the assets and the attitude to make such a big swing for Skubal.

But armed with a staff that has a top-three ERA in baseball, and armed with an offense that leads MLB in OPS, the Dodgers are basically a well-oiled machine right now, and Friedman might not feel that a huge move is needed, especially if that move — such as a Skubal trade — would "impede the team’s next core of homegrown players," as Woo wrote.

Don't rule the Dodgers out from other moves, even if Tarik Skubal isn't on the menu

Don't think that just because Friedman isn't making the move that he won't make a move. Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan is an impact arm that Los Angeles might go out and acquire for some reinforcements and injury insurance. Snagging Ryan wouldn't cost nearly the type of prospect capital that a Skubal pursuit would.

Ryan being under long-term control is appealing to the Dodgers (something that can't be said about Skubal). Again, this lends itself to the blueprint that Friedman and the Dodgers' front office is believed to be following — long-term, sustained success, not just three-peat dreams with no plans for beyond that.

The Dodgers are trying to build a sustained dynasty

LA's possible decision to stay away from Skubal reinforces that they truly believe they can construct a dynasty that extends far beyond 2026 or 2027. This is an organization that is trying to dominate baseball for the next decade, or even perhaps longer.

Homegrown prospects will simply have to play a part in that vision. Though the Dodgers have had success trading for superstar talent, that sort of strategy is not sustainable in a long-term sense. Friedman realizes that he needs to diversify ways of assembling a World Series roster more shrewdly, with homegrown talent possibly taking centerstage in that construction.

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