CHICAGO — All of the criticism and anger being directed at the Dodgers for the rich getting richer by acquiring Tarik Skubal – yeah, you can miss him with that.
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“What do you want me to understand?” Skubal said Tuesday afternoon when asked if he understood the reaction.
“I mean, I don’t, I didn’t get the – every team could trade for me. Every team can make that acquisition. I don’t really sympathize with people that blame the Dodgers for anything they’ve done. They’ve developed a really good organization. They draft well. They acquire talent really well. They retain talent. It’s a winning organization.
“Now the complaints seem to be because they’ve won the last two World Series. I don’t think it was like that three years ago. I don’t really sympathize with people that are complaining because the Dodgers do all the right things.”
Skubal joined the Dodgers mid-game on Sunday in Los Angeles and will make his Dodgers debut on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
“My initial reaction – there was a lot of emotions,” he said of getting the news about the trade on Saturday. “I spent eight years with the Detroit Tigers. That place will always be special to me no matter what. In the same breath, I’m excited to be here with these guys. When you watch them from across the way, see them do their thing on TV, you just have a lot of respect because they play the game the right way.
“The entire focus of this organization is on winning championships and that is my entire focus playing baseball, so we’re very much aligned. I’m ready to go out there and compete and give this organization and city everything that I’ve got.”
The trade to the Dodgers brings some resolution to a tumultuous year for Skubal. Rumors that the two-time Cy Young Award winner would be traded by the Tigers before he can become a free agent this offseason started last winter. He won a record salary in arbitration, $32 million after the Tigers had offered only $19 million, and there seemed to be some hard feelings after the two sides went to a hearing.
In May, he was sidelined by surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow – and he returned in less than six weeks after undergoing a less-invasive procedure using a ‘NanoNeedle.’ There was speculation about whether the Tigers could climb back into contention strongly enough to avoid trading him – but then the move to the Dodgers came.
“It’s just noise,” Skubal said. “There’s nothing I can really do to change any narrative or say anything. And there’s a lot of stuff I don’t even want to get into. It is what it is though. It’s just noise. I’ll let you guys talk about all that stuff. I’m going to be focused on playing baseball.”
Skubal has some familiarity with his new Dodgers teammates. He and catcher Will Smith were teammates on Team USA for the World Baseball Classic. Skubal said he knew shortstop Mookie Betts a little – and he played with catcher Eliezer Alfonzo Jr. before. The two were teammates in the Tigers’ farm system.
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SHEEHAN DOWN
While Skubal will join the rotation on Tuesday, Emmet Sheehan’s time as part of that group is over for now. In the midst of an inconsistent season that left him with a 5.29 ERA after 20 starts, Sheehan was demoted to Triple-A on Monday.
“I think this is going to be kind of hit the re-set button for Shee, get back to basics, get the delivery dialed in like it was last year. He’s been battling it a lot of this year,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “We’ve seen flashes of really good, and then some inconsistency. So taking a step back, a deep breath – nobody obviously ever wants to be sent down, but I think this is an opportunity to hit the re-set button, get him in a really good place and then make sure that he’s a weapon for us moving forward.”
The plan is for Sheehan to continue pitching as a starter for Triple-A Oklahoma City even though his only path to a postseason roster spot would seem to be as a reliever.
“That’s something down the road,” Roberts said. “We see him as a starter.”
Sheehan returned from Tommy John surgery last season, but his velocity has been down this year. Not coincidentally, he gave up 20 home runs in just 95⅓ innings, including three in one inning in Sunday’s loss to the Boston Red Sox.
“I don’t know the answer,” Roberts said of the lost velocity. “I do think that from the outset there was a lot of talk about his velocity so I think that might have led him to his north star, which some could debate that should be, some could say it shouldn’t be.
“I just think this year up to this point, it’s been very mechanics driven. When you’re in competition this season that should quite frankly be the last thing on your mind as a hitter or pitcher. But that’s been forefront for him, so we have to get him back to being an athlete, being in compete mode.”
Meanwhile, Eric Lauer will remain in the rotation and make his next start on Wednesday against the Cubs.
There was a lot of pre-deadline speculation that the Dodgers would spin Lauer and possibly outfielder Alex Call to another team, turning their depth into more prospect capital.
Gomes dismissed that.
“Rumors are rumors,” Gomes said. “We feel great about both of those guys and what they can contribute, what they have done and what they will do moving forward. So yeah, i think we’ll leave it at that.”
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