Andrew Friedman on Tarik Skubal trade: ‘There’s nothing that we did that no one else couldn’t have done’

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Los Angeles, CA - August 02, 2026: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal greets teammate center fielder Andy Pages (44) during the eighth inning of an MLB game against the Boston Red Sox at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Once this offseason comes and the collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, there will be a lockout in Major League Baseball. Owners will use the Dodgers’ spending and winning as a cudgel to try to advance their proposals.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman pushed back against criticism of the team’s latest move, acquiring ace Tarik Skubal for three players on Sunday.

“It just seems like there’s always blowback with us,” Friedman said. “There’s nothing that we did that no one else couldn’t have done.”

Alden González at ESPN has more on that side of Freidman’s Sunday media scrum.

Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic wrote about how cries of the Dodgers ruining baseball will increase after the Skubal trade, even though the move guarantees nothing. Rosenthal wrote about how the Dodgers’ financial largesse is certainly an advantage, but the specific Skubal trade was one that many other teams could make:

That’s not money-whipping the competition. That’s outsmarting it. And for Skubal, the Dodgers had the depth to trade three talented prospects knowing they had dozens more in their system.

Links​

• Enjoy this fine write-up of the Dodgers prospects sent to the Tigers by Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs, but also enjoy the headline, “In Detroit’s Valley of Darkness, a River of Hope.”
• Steve Lopez at the Los Angeles Times wrote about the opposition Frank McCourt’s gondola project is facing.
• In case you missed it, Skubal will make his Dodgers debut on Tuesday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

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