RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The two-time defending champion Dodgers traded for arguably the best pitcher in baseball, Tarik Skubal , Saturday night. As expected, people absolutely lost their minds all over the internet. We all saw plenty of it. The cries for a salary cap. People ignorantly claiming there wouldn't be baseball next season (yeah, you think I'm wrong? Save this. You can apologize to me on Opening Day).
I was mad, too. I didn't want the Dodgers to get Skubal. If the Tigers truly needed to trade him -- and we'll get to them -- I wanted someone like the Brewers to have the fortitude to outbid the Dodgers.
We could shame an awful lot of teams here ( Rays , Cubs , Braves , White Sox , etc.), but let's zero in on those Brewers. Sitting idly as Skubal lands with the back-to-back reigning World Series champs is indefensible from where I sit.
The Brewers had the best record in baseball last season. They've made the playoffs seven of the last eight seasons, winning the NL Central each of the past three seasons and four of the last five. They are cruising to yet another division title.
And they were swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS last season. They haven't made the World Series since becoming an NL team. They are one of five MLB teams to have never won the World Series.
If there was ever a moment absolutely screaming for the Brewers to do absolutely whatever it took to not only acquire Skubal but to make sure the Dodgers didn't, this was it. Where were they? The prospect package the Dodgers gave up was light and easily something the Brewers could have handled. As Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday night, "there's nothing that we did that no one else couldn't have done."
Don't bring up money, either. Skubal is due roughly $10 million and change the rest of the season. The Brewers are gonna draw over 2.5 million fans again this season, not to mention all the potential playoff gates.
We can't know every machination of the discussions that took place in Skubal trade talks with the Tigers, but from the outside looking in, this just screams gutless from the incredibly adept Brewers front office. At some point, you put the "future" in the backseat and drop the hammer to try and win a World Series right now. This was the time. They failed to do so. If they lose to the Dodgers in the playoffs, there will be plenty of whining about the lack of a salary cap in Major League Baseball. But we will be able to walk right back to the moment they let the Dodgers have Skubal.
They don't fly championship banners for prospect rankings. Ask the Orioles .
The Brewers with Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski heading into a playoff series against the Dodgers could have had the top two pitchers in the series. Instead, they let the Dodgers win the bidding war.
I could pretty easily loop in the Rays here, too. The American League is wide open, and they have the best record. They've never won the World Series, either. They have the prospect capital that would've been needed to grab Skubal. And they let the Dodgers have him.
Then again, he shouldn't have even been available. Did I say gutless above? That's not even a strong enough word for the Tigers front office. How unbelievably and pathetically cowardly. It's equally baffling and infuriating. The Tigers were 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot and traded arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Read this sentence again.
The Tigers were 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot and traded arguably the best pitcher in baseball.
How is the discourse centered on the Dodgers instead of shaming the Tigers into oblivion? They gave up on their season less than a series out of a playoff spot. The Tigers have gone 32-20 since the end of May. At that rate, they'd have ended up with one of the AL Wild Card spots. And the front office quit on the team.
Sure, they could try and spin it any which way they so desire -- " they couldn't let Skubal walk for nothing this offseason," being the main argument -- but dealing your ace while within striking distance of a playoff spot in a wide-open American League is waving a white flag.
Yes, the focus is going to remain on the Dodgers and how "no fair!" baseball is. We knew that was coming.
But the main focus should absolutely be on the woeful behavior of the Tigers front office in addition to the cowardice from the Brewers, Rays et al.
Don't lose sight of that. The Tigers front office quit on their team, while the Brewers and Rays and other teams didn't have the guts to step up and pull the trigger the way the Dodgers did. If there's a villain here, I'm sure not seeing it being the Dodgers.
Shame on you, Tigers (and to a lesser extent, Brewers and Rays). Shame. Shame. Shame.
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