The Milwaukee Brewers remain one of the top teams in Major League Baseball and are likely the biggest threat to the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ reign as back-to-back World Series champions. They were supposedly in the running to potentially acquire two-time American League Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers, but ultimately were outbid by the Dodgers.
Milwaukee still had a productive trade deadline, adding its bullpen and starting rotation with the additions of Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Antonio Senzatela.
But they still failed to land Skubal. Kyle Wallace of ESPN Milwaukee recently discussed the deadline and why it feels like a failure to fans.
“The deadline didn’t hit the way we wanted it to hit, and they we needed it to hit,” Wallace said. “I’m glad the Brewers picked up the bullpen help that they needed, but at the end of the day the Brewers do what they needed, which was get closer to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and that just was not the case.”
Milwaukee Brewers Called Out for Tarik Skubal Failure
Ultimately, the best way for the Brewers to get themselves on par with the Dodgers was to go out and acquire Tarik Skubal. They at least had an offer for him, but the Tigers ultimately took what Los Angeles had to offer instead.
A rotation featuring both Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski at the top would have been difficult to beat, even for the Dodgers. Milwaukee also has Kyle Harrison, who has put together a strong season thus far.
This could have given Milwaukee a legitimate shot to win a postseason series against the Dodgers and potentially win their first World Series title in franchise history. While the postseason is still far away, the Brewers didn’t do anything to make people doubt the Dodgers as favorites to three-peat.
The Brewers may win the National League Central, but they most likely will not be able to get past the Dodgers in the NLCS. That would take a miracle to pull off, even for a very talented team such as Milwaukee.
Skubal could have changed the power dynamic in the National League if the Brewers had made a more aggressive offer to the Tigers and landed him, but they did not, and it’s going to be tough for them, let alone every other postseason contender to stop the Dodgers’ quest for a three-peat this coming October.
Los Angeles Dodgers Solidify Position as World Series Favorites
This move by the Dodgers only further confirms that they are the team to beat in Major League Baseball. It’s going to be incredibly hard to stop them in the postseason, and all signs point to them completing their quest for a three-peat in the coming months.
The gap between the Dodgers and the rest of MLB is quite large, and it grew even larger thanks to the Brewers and other teams not being able to meet Detroit’s asking price for Skubal.
It will be interesting to see how the Brewers fare against them this October. Los Angeles swept Milwaukee in the NLCS last year.
Brewers Called Out After Failing to Land Tarik Skubal at Trade Deadline