LOS ANGELES — Some relationships are too important to end.
When the Dodgers moved to build an impenetrable starting staff this summer it was not at all costs.
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Left-hander Tarik Skubal, a two-time Cy Young Award winner at the height of his powers, was the target, so the Dodgers weighed their options. A blind bid process was created by the Detroit Tigers and the Dodgers submitted their proposal.
That package did not include Josue De Paula, the sixth-best prospect across baseball as ranked by MLB Pipeline this week.
The Dodgers still landed Skubal to put toward the front of the rotation, with the ability to retain De Paula about to pay dividends on Friday when the pair become teammates.
The Dodgers will recall De Paula in advance of their series opener on the road against the Miami Marlins. De Paula will be in the lineup as the designated hitter, which is Shohei Ohtani’s regular spot.
No pressure.
Ohtani is finally headed to the injured list with continued right biceps and left knee discomfort, although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed Wednesday night that the biceps is what is giving Ohtani the most trouble of late.
“It was more just really huddling up and saying hey, how are you going to feel on Friday, how are you going to feel on Saturday, talking to the doctors and training staff?” Roberts said about finally making the Ohtani IL decision a week after the four-time league MVP missed nearly a week’s worth of games. “There was not much certainty that he’d be in a much better place. With that, just taking it off the table seemed like the best course of action.”
Enter De Paula, the first Double-A player to go straight to the major leagues in more than a decade with Andrew Friedman at the helm as the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations.
Most organizations have their untouchables. De Paula is the latest for the Dodgers. In recent years, Corey Seager, Walker Buehler, Gavin Lux and Dustin May all reportedly had no-trade status at points of their developments.
A lean, smooth-swinging left-handed hitter, the 6-foot-3 De Paula has heralded bat-to-ball skills and has managed to unlock the power side of his game this season.
At Double-A Tulsa, he hit 27 home runs with 104 RBIs in 124 games. He had never hit more than 12 home runs in any of his previous four minor league seasons.
De Paula’s .948 OPS ranks second in the Texas League, while his home run total and his .303 batting average were third-best. He was the only hitter in the league to top the 100 mark in RBIs and runs scored (104) through Wednesday.
De Paula helped lead Tulsa into the Texas League playoffs as the first-half winner of the North Division. His promotion means the Drillers will open the playoffs on Tuesday in Springfield without their top run producer.
Tulsa already lost outfielder Zyhir Hope when he was part of the package that went to the Tigers for Skubal, instead of De Paula. The Dodgers also moved right-handers Brady Smith and River Ryan in the deal.
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They wanted Skubal, but without De Paula in the trade package, they had to sweat out the Tigers’ decision when their offer was delivered days in advance of the Aug. 3 deadline.
“I wasn’t that confident,” Friedman said about the process.
Friedman knew the Dodgers offered a talented package, he just didn’t know what other teams were willing to do in order to land a difference-making pitcher for the stretch drive.
“I had no idea and was trying to emotionally hedge,” he said. “I wasn’t getting too high or too low on it until we actually found out.”
He expected to wait until the last minute for an answer. The decision came back sooner, a full two days before the deadline.
As it turns out, the trade deadline angst came from more than just the front office. De Paula appeared to thrive once the deadline drama ended. He might not have been thrilled over the departure of his tag-team lineup partner Hope, but his chance to remain in the organization of an annual World Series contender showed.
De Paula hit nine home runs over 25 August games, the most of any month in his professional career. He also posted a 1.000 OPS for Tulsa.
A star in the making, De Paula knows how to forge his own path. Raised in Brooklyn, De Paula moved with his family to the Dominican Republic during the 2020 COVID pandemic, avoided the MLB draft and signed as an international free agent with the Dodgers a year later for just under $400,000.
He stayed in the Dominican Republic for his first professional season and showed he was ready to rise with a .349 batting average, five home runs and 30 RBIs in 54 games.
He was well on his way after parts of two seasons at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, where he batted .282 with eight home runs and 81 RBIs over 130 total games. His three-run home run in the 2025 All-Star Futures Game earned him MVP honors.
He then gave a hint of what was ahead at Double-A this season when he batted .375 with three RBIs and four runs scored in 14 Cactus League games for the Dodgers’ big league club this spring.
“We’ve seen him in camp for two or three years,” Roberts said. “He doesn’t run from velocity. He controls the strike zone. And I think this is just a good opportunity for him to kind of cut his teeth in the big leagues.”
Still with work to do on defense, De Paula will be at a corner outfield spot if Roberts elects to put his youngster in the field over the coming weeks. Another option in the future for the left-handed thrower could be at first base.
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For now, though, the plan is simple.
“… The lion’s share of his at-bats will come from the DH,” Roberts said.