Make California Post a Preferred Source LAS VEGAS – The Dodgers want Tarik Skubal back.
Offer him a salary next year greater than Kyle Tucker’s last year.
If the uncertainty over potential future economic regulations give the Dodgers reservations about signing Skubal to a long-term contract, present him with a deal that would pay him more money than any player has ever made in a single season.
The Dodgers like to talk about the importance of reading and reacting to various situations, and that’s what their efforts to re-sign two-time Cy Young Award winner call for them to do.
As the baseball industry gathered Monday on the Las Vegas Strip for the general managers meetings this week, teams didn’t know the rules under which they would be playing next season, whether there will be a salary cap or some other form of cost control designed to increase franchise valuations.
The prospect of a salary cap or some other form of cost control in the next collective-bargaining agreement could make the Dodgers reluctant to sign Skubal to the kind of eight- to 10-year contract he figures to command on the open market.
As it is, the Dodgers already have a number of long-term commitments on their books. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is under contract through 2035, Ohtani and Will Smith through 2033, Mookie Betts through 2032, Tucker and Blake Snell through 2029.
But in its most recent CBA proposal, Major League Baseball offered to delay the implementation of a salary cap until 2028 and said in a news release that it “is willing to discuss additional appropriate phase-in timeline & procedures for implementation of the Salary Cap and Floor.”
While the pitch was quickly rejected by the players, it confirmed that even if extreme changes are introduced, teams will likely be granted time to make their rosters salary-cap compliant.
The Dodgers have to take advantage of that grace period.
Signing Skubal to a short-term contract with a high average annual value will only cost them money, and they should have plenty of that, provided they are as unaffected as they claim to be by the reported problems of owner Mark Walter’s insurance companies.
They will have to offer Skubal enough money to forfeit the security of a longer deal.
What about $100 million to pitch for them next year? Perhaps a player option or two after that?
If nine figures for one season of baseball sounds expensive, consider the cost of not retaining Skubal.
The Dodgers were crushed by the eventual World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, but they were still the second-best team in baseball this year.
They have an older roster, but that doesn’t mean this iteration of their team is finished. They could have another championship run in them.
The Dodgers won 100 games this year – and that was with Ohtani injured for the half of the season.
They destroyed the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS – and that was with Ohtani hitting on one leg.
Manage Ohtani better, re-sign Skubal, inject the right amount of youth into their roster, and who’s to say the Dodgers can’t win the World Series next year?
Acquired by the Dodgers at the trade deadline, Skubal quickly became a central figure in their locker room and was entrusted with being their No. 1 starter in the postseason.
“The way he was able to seamlessly transition, not just in terms of on the field, but in the clubhouse, I can’t say enough good things about the impact he made in such a short period of time,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.
Offering Skubal a short but lucrative deal doesn’t mean he will accept it, of course.
Skubal’s market is “robust,” according to his agent, Scott Boras.
“Pitchers like him deliver what every owner covets, and that’s championships,” Boras said.
The Dodgers owe it to themselves to at least make an attempt to re-sign Skubal, however.
They have a small opening to retain a player they want without compromising their long-term stability.
