The reality of the Dodgers-Tigers Tarik Skubal trade package regardless of how 'cheap' fans think it is

Now that Tarik Skubal is with the Los Angeles Dodgers, another misconception is developing over how the Dodgers operate. The Dodgers parted with top prospects Zyhir Hope and River Ryan as the headliners of their offer to the Detroit Tigers, rounding out the deal by adding a low-level flier in Brady Smith.

Some are blaming the rest of baseball. Other are suggesting that Dodgers prospects are propped up for no actual reason. But most seem to believe that the LA low-balled their offer to Detroit for Skubal. That perception is mostly tied to the fact that the Dodgers were able to land Skubal without giving any of their top four prospects, according to MLB Pipeline.

That's not exactly how most mock trades were crafted. The conversation also ignores the reality of the Dodgers' farm system. There's a case to be made that any of the Dodgers' top five prospects would be the best prospect with any other time. Along those lines, Hope is believed to be among the 25 best prospects in baseball, and Ryan is at No. 68.

Dodgers survive Tarik Skubal trade without sacrificing the very top of their farm system

Regardless of any other narrative about this trade, it can't be lost that the Dodgers paid a steep price for a rental. A price that hasn't been seen in baseball before.

It's become unheard of for teams to be willing to give up one Top 100 prospect for a rental at the deadline, let alone two. For that reason alone, the Skubal trade is an outlier. No team has previously gone as far as the Dodgers just did. So, on one hand, yes, the trade could be a bad look for baseball, and an indictment of how the Tigers operate, but it's not because LA didn't offer up legitimate prospects in the deal.

In other words, this is why the Dodgers emphasize restocking the farm system when they can. For all the talk about how Andrew Friedman and Co. structure contracts in free agency, they make the farm system a priority. Either through drafting, or moving excess pieces at the deadline, LA is never in a position where they don't have a wealth of top prospects at the very top of their system.

It's why they made the Skubal trade and some are wondering if the Tigers knew exactly what they were doing. Other teams weren't in a position to make this deal, considering it would have gutted their farm system.

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