Tarik Skubal is going to have no shortage of suitors when he hits the market, and the Chicago Cubs are already being floated as one of them. For now, that’s just part of the conversation, but the early buzz is enough to make the field worth watching closely.
The Cubs make sense on talent alone. Skubal is the kind of arm every team would love to chase, but only a few clubs can realistically jump into the race for the kind of deal he’s about to command. Chicago’s need for pitching only adds to the speculation.
There’s also the looming December 2 lockout to factor in. MLB is heading toward a new labor setup, and the rules around payroll could change once a new CBA is in place. A salary floor and salary cap are both being discussed, which could make some teams hesitant to commit big money before they know what kind of financial restrictions they’ll be operating under.
Even with that uncertainty, a few clubs look positioned to make life difficult for the Cubs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have to be near the top of the list. On paper, their trade for Skubal already looks like one of the most lopsided deals in recent memory, especially after it still didn’t end with a World Series trip. That alone makes them look like the favorites to sign him, and nothing from Andrew Friedman’s end-of-season press conference points in another direction.
The New York Mets are another heavyweight lurking in the mix. The message coming out of New York is that they’re prepared to top the market for Skubal, and after losing out to the Dodgers multiple times last offseason, they could simply decide to throw absurd money at him and force the issue. They’ve shown before they’re willing to go that far, especially with the lengths they went to in convincing Juan Soto to avoid a return to the Yankees.
Then there’s the San Diego Padres, who fit the profile of the team that always shows up when a star pitcher becomes available. The Philadelphia Phillies are not expected to be in that lane because they’ll spend most of the offseason trying to clear money from their books. And as for the Detroit Tigers, the idea of Skubal going back there is dismissed as a lazy thought.
That leaves the Padres as the wild card. Whenever a free agent of Skubal’s caliber is out there, San Diego makes sure it has a seat at the table.
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