Tarik Skubal's comments on Angels' purchase just had Dodgers fans do a double take

There's a specific kind of dread that comes with reading a quote from one of your team's best players that sounds a little too much like a farewell letter. That's the feeling some Dodgers fans got this week when Tarik Skubal sat down with the LA Times and talked, at length, about what Stan Kroenke's purchase of the Angels could mean for free agency in Anaheim.

Kroenke isn't expected to be formally approved as the Angels' new owner until early next year, but Skubal didn't hesitate when asked whether the move instantly makes the Angels a more attractive destination for stars around the league.

"Absolutely," he told The Times. "Not only an owner that has obvious financial backing, but an owner that has turned the Rams into what the Rams are. I think they're the Super Bowl favorite this year. There's an owner that cares about winning." 

He kept going, too, getting specific about exactly the kind of details that separate good organizations from great ones. "The impact he brings to the Angels? You bring an owner that really cares about winning and is willing to do whatever it takes to win and invest, not only with players on the field but all the stuff behind the scenes, like clubhouse renovations. I'm sure there will be a lot of stuff there that changes to make it state-of-the-art, because all that stuff matters." 

If you read that fast,, without any context, it sounds exactly like a scouting report on what a certain two-time Cy Young winner might be looking for this winter. Every single thing Skubal named — real financial commitment, a demonstrated culture of winning, investment in the spaces players actually live in every day — is a page directly out of the Dodgers' own playbook, the one that's made Los Angeles the sport's biggest free-agent magnet for years.

Hearing him describe those same qualities as reasons a rival across town could suddenly compete for that same class of player is the kind of thing that makes a fanbase sit up straight.

Dodgers fans shouldn't panic about Tarik Skubal (yet)

But, the most important part of all this? Skubal also told The LA Times he's focused on helping the Dodgers chase a third straight World Series this year and hasn't given much real thought to his own free agency yet. Additionally, Skubal knows that his impending free agency market will be boosted by a strong playoff performance. He was speaking generally, about the league, not laying out a personal wish list, probably.

Because it's fair to wonder how much of this has his super-agent Scott Boras' fingerprints on it regardless. Boras has built a career on exactly this kind of move: getting a client's name and market value into the conversation early, publicly, and on his own terms, so that by the time an actual negotiation starts, every team in baseball already understands there's real competition for his services and a contract number has already been floated around.

Maybe that's exactly what this was. A little value-setting, a little leverage-building, months before it really heats up after the World Series. Dodgers fans have the right to feel a flicker of nerves reading those quotes, especially if you see a future with Skubal in it.

But the version of Skubal who said all of that is still out there right now, in Dodger blue, trying to win three championships in a row. That's how he is going to get paid, and it's the version of him fans want and need.

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