Dodgers prez Andrew Friedman explains Tarik Skubal deal, scoffs at criticism that they're ruining baseball

Tarik Skubal is officially a Los Angeles Dodger. He’ll make his debut for his new team on Tuesday.

Friedman said that Skubal is scheduled to make his Dodgers debut on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in what could be a postseason preview between the World Series hopefuls. He also discussed what motivated a Dodgers team that already rostered one of baseball’s best rotations to add Skubal to at the top.

“I don’t think we went into this thing, this is an acute need,” Friedman said Sunday at a news conference. … “Whenever there’s a star-level player that is available that can really shift championship odds, those are moments that we’ll be more aggressive.”

The deal to acquire Skubal was both shocking and not unexpected at the same time. The Dodgers were among the last teams in baseball in need of a pitching upgrade. They’re also a team that’s acquired two consecutive World Series championships via aggressive deal-making and player acquisition.

The big spending has prompted criticism from some circles that the Dodgers’ stockpiling of talent is bad for baseball. Friedman offered a blunt retort to that criticism on Sunday:

“Passionately disagree,” he told reporters.

Regardless of one’s thoughts on whether or not the Dodgers are good for baseball, it’s hard to argue with the results. The Dodgers left the All-Star break as the favorites to win a third consecutive World Series title, and now they’ve added arguably the best pitcher in baseball to an already stacked rotation.