Prospect expert reveals why Dodgers had edge over Brewers in Tarik Skubal trade talks

The Los Angeles Dodgers are currently taking on the Milwaukee Brewers, and the difference in the series may very well come down to Tarik Skubal. The Brewers, of course, were the Dodgers' biggest competition to land the reigning two-time AL Cy Young winner. As we've gotten more distance from the trade deadline, more details have come to light regarding the packages Milwaukee offered the Detroit Tigers.

The Brewers' offer was more competitive than originally thought, with various permutations surrounding Milwaukee's No. 2 overall prospect Luis Peña. He might be better than anything Los Angeles offered up, but the Tigers ultimately decided they liked the Dodgers' proposal more.

This might not even be a case of the rest of the package making up the difference in value between headliners. The Brewers have a better farm system, in terms of rankings, than the Dodgers, with MLB Pipeline placing them No. 1 on their list entering the season. LA ranked No. 2 on the MLB Pipeline list, but the experts over at Baseball America ranked the Dodgers 13th in te preseason pecking order.

With a better headliner and a deeper system in Milwaukee, it seems a little crazy that Detroit opted for the Dodgers' offer over what the Brewers put forth, but as Baseball America's J.J. Cooper explains, there's a very real reason why Los Angeles won the bidding.

What this comes down to is what kind of players the Tigers were targeting specifically. In this case, they wanted a young starter and a corner outfielder who could help them in 2027. For as good as Peña is, he's a 19-year-old in High-A. It will be a few years until he's ready to make a big league impact, and that does very little for the Tigers.

The Dodgers won the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes because of their depth at every level

The important thing to remember is that value is subjective. This isn't about looking at prospect rankings and saying this package ranks higher than the others. It's about the team trading away the big league asset and what its goals are.

At the deadline, the Tigers were still hanging around in the AL wild card race. They traded him because it was their last chance to extract value before he left in free agency, not because they wanted to blow it up and rebuild. Since the trade, they've roared back and solidified their position as a playoff contender.

Detroit is going to want to keep what they have together and continue building around their young core, rather than blowing it all up. The focus now, without Skubal, is on surrounding youngsters like Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark with talent as they continue to ascend. That's why River Ryan and Zyhir Hope appealed to them. Both of them should be ready to contribute next season.

Los Angeles could afford to part with them because they have more talent waiting in the wings. In fact, the Dodgers could come up with whatever kind of offer the Tigers wanted, because there is talent from A-ball through Triple-A in the system.

The Brewers' best chips are teenagers like Peña and No. 1 prospect Jesus Made. For a different team in a different situation, that might have made a difference, although the Dodgers could have countered that as well.

At the end of the day, value is subjective and situational. The Dodgers' ability to create an offer that adapts to any situation due to their depth is crucial. That's why they landed Tarik Skubal, and that's why they can essentially trade for whichever star they want whenever they want.

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