Ex-Dodgers Star Defends Organization From Critics After Tarik Skubal Trade

Tarik Skubal joined the Los Angeles Dodgers through a trade from the Detroit Tigers on Saturday and made his debut for them on Tuesday.

Ex-Dodgers Star Defends Organization From Critics After Tarik Skubal Trade

Tarik Skubal (Image via X/@MLB)

The Los Angeles Dodgers once again found themselves under tremendous heat following their acquisition of Tarik Skubal. Amid this criticism, one of their former stars came to their defense and commented on the backlash they receive.

The 2-time defending World Series champions strengthened their bid for a 3-peat by adding Skubal. They landed him in a trade from the Detroit Tigers while giving up outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith.

With this move, Skubal became the 6th reigning Cy Young Award winner to be traded in the middle of the season. For the Dodgers, this also gave them an immediate boost in their pitching rotation, which is currently missing Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.

This move, however, did not sit well with the fans on social media. Many once again slammed the team for this and called them out. As per Jon Heyman, an unnamed rival executive claimed that the Tigers did not get much in the trade of Skubal.

Amid this criticism, former Dodgers star Lance Lynn came to their defense. On the Cardinal Territory podcast, the 39-year-old expressed that the NL West side had done everything perfectly and was reaping rewards for their work off the field.

Everybody’s mad because they’ve done everything perfectly, and everything that other teams have tried to do has failed. And now they’re reaping the benefits of running a business the way it needs to be run. And they’re running it to try to win. They’re not trying to run it to make money. They’re running it to win championships.

Lance Lynn said

Before the 2026 season, the Dodgers brought in All-Stars Edwin Diaz and Kyle Tucker. Diaz, who opted out of his deal with the New York Mets, rejected a $66 million deal and joined the LA-based franchise on a $69 million deal. Meanwhile, they got their hands on Tucker through a 4-year, $240 million deal.

The one thing the Dodgers have done the most in recent years is defer the payments of several stars. Tucker’s deal has $30 million deferred. With his deal, the team has over $1.1 billion in deferred payments, with a huge chunk of $680 million belonging to Shohei Ohtani.

As a result of this, many have accused them of “ruining baseball.” In the podcast appearance, Lynn admitted that they did this (ruin baseball) as they were better than everyone and urged the other teams to take a page out of their book and try to win games instead of complaining about how the Dodgers work.

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Tarik Skubal was unable to help the Dodgers break their losing streak

The Los Angeles Dodgers took to the field on Tuesday hoping to end their losing run. With Tarik Skubal making his debut for them, they were looking to get back to winning ways. However, the southpaw was unable to help them break their losing streak.

Dodgers' Ttarik Skubal
Tarik Skubal (Image via X/@SleeperDodgers)

The Dave Roberts-led side had been swept by the Boston Red Sox over the weekend and lost 10-5 in the series opener against the Chicago Cubs on Monday. On Tuesday, they took the lead early on as former Cubs star Kyle Tucker smashed a solo home run.

Skubal proceeded to have a quality start. He threw 6 innings and gave up just 2 runs and 4 hits. However, these 2 runs proved to be costly as the bats of the Dodgers went cold again.

A home run from Dansby Swanson in the 3rd inning tied the game at 1-1. A drop ball in the infield during the 6th inning saw the Cubs take a 2-1 lead.

As Skubal left the game, his new team was losing. They ended up conceding 3 more runs and lost 5-1. Skubal thus ended up being credited with the loss.

This marked a 5th straight defeat for the Dodgers. This was the first time this year they have lost this many games in a row.

Since July 1, they are 13-15, leaving them with a 69-45 record. With the Milwaukee Brewers winning 4-2, they became the first team to reach 70 wins this season. The Cubs, meanwhile, will look to complete the sweep with a win on Wednesday.

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