The Los Angeles Dodgers are moving on in the Major League Baseball playoffs!
After defeating the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday evening, LA will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS.
Despite the ongoing playoffs taking place, speculation is still swirling across the league, and with MLB free agency looming, predictions are being handed down from several outlets.
While the looming free agent class isn’t entirely strong, the cream of the crop player is Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal, who is considered the consensus top free agent.
Recently, the Dodgers were predicted to sign Tarik Skubal.
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Los Angeles Dodgers Predicted to Sign Tarik Skubal
According to several baseball pundits, Tarik Skubal is the undisputed top free agent in the 2027 class.
MLBTR.com’s Steve Adams recently did a free-agent preview with rankings, and Tarik Skubal comes in at No. 1 (to no surprise):
“No surprise here. An elbow scope in May and eventual trade to the Dodgers will prevent Skubal from winning a third straight American League Cy Young, but on a rate basis, he’s just as dominant as he’s been in recent seasons. While Skubal had a few shaky outings after a remarkably quick return from an innovative “Nano-Needle” procedure to remove a bone spur from his elbow, he’s now sitting on a 2.70 ERA post-surgery — the exact same mark he had prior to that procedure. He’s working on his fourth straight season with a strikeout rate north of 30% and a walk rate under 5%. That level of K/BB dominance is a rarity for any pitcher in even one given season — let alone a run of four consecutive years.”
To piggyback off that, BleacherReport.com “predicted” the outcome of all 30 MLB teams’ top free agents, and for the Dodgers, writer Joel Reuter predicts Tarik Skubal will re-sign in LA, which would be scary hours for the rest of the league.
“With a price tag expected to push toward $400 million, there is a finite number of teams capable of signing Skubal. The Dodgers are right at the top of that list. The Mets have the money and the need, but another year of irrelevance won’t make it any easier to attract elite talent. The imminent lockout and new CBA are obviously a major unknown, but for now the Dodgers have to be viewed as the favorites to lock up the two-time Cy Young winner.”
“Verdict: Re-sign”
If Skubal does ink a multi-year deal with LA, the Dodgers will really have to break the bank, and some are wondering if signing Skubal would even be possible if MLB decides to have a soft salary cap in 2027.
LA is already several million dollars over the luxury tax, and inking Skubal to a $400 million contract certainly wouldn’t help that luxury tax number go down.
Tarik Skubal, despite the elbow surgery, had another dominant campaign with the Dodgers/Tigers.
Over 26 starts in 2026, Skubal posted an ERA of 2.72 with 286 strikeouts and just 27 walks.
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Los Angeles Dodgers Predicted to Sign Top Impending Free Agent