MLB Trade Deadline - What does Skubal to LAD Mean for the Rest of 2026, and the 2027 Offseason? Plus the Biggest Moves from the Deadline

Monday 8/3 marked the MLB Trade Deadline for the 2026 season, and there was no shortage of notable moves made around the league. Lots of contenders beefed up their pitching staffs or filled holes in their lineups -- and lots of teams waved the white flag on 2026 and reloaded their farm systems while parting ways with their best Big League assets.

But there was one move over the weekend that stole headlines and was the story of the trade deadline -- the Detroit Tigers trading their Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal to the reigning back-to-back World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Skubal will join what was already the most stacked pitching rotation in the MLB -- the most stacked roster overall for that matter -- for a 3-peat push in LA.

This move had fans around the country up in arms. The best pitcher in the league, traded to the best team in the league, making them even bigger favorites to win another World Series for the Dodgers. Which in turn is adding even more fuel to the fire of the argument that the MLB is in need of a Salary Cap like the other major Professional Sports Leagues -- and the possibility we could be heading toward a Lockout in the 2027 season.

(I don't get the hype -- Skubal got out-pitched by Javier Assad last night in the Cubs 5-1 win, but apparently this Skubal guy is supposed to be pretty good).

I'm going to break down my thoughts on the Skubal move -- my thoughts on where the MLB could be heading after this season when the current CBA is up -- then will close things out with other big trade deadline moves around the League, including what the Cardinals and Cubs did at the deadline.

How the Dodgers are Winning in Today's MLB

There's a lot of moving parts to the problems facing the MLB right now. The over-arching concern is that fans don't want there to be a competitive imbalance in the league. I bold and underline fans, because I'm honestly not sure if most organizations care -- because if they did, owners would be willing to spend money to sign and trade for great players.

Look at the haul the Tigers got for Tarik Skubal -- 3 total prospects, one who's ranked #25, one is #68, and one is outside the Top-100. Most teams in the MLB could have matched or outbid the Dodgers in terms of trade assets -- so either nobody was willing to offer more because they didn't care to beat out LAD, didn't think he'd resign with them, or were fine to let the Dodgers get him to fuel CBA discussions this winter.

The Dodgers have proven time and time again they are more than willing to trade farm system prospects for the chance to acquire Superstars that will give them the best chance to win a World Series. Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman are all examples from the 2020s alone. These are moves any number of teams around the league could've made themselves -- but either aren't willing to give up the prospects necessary, or don't think they have the big league talent to surround those Superstars with a chance to win now.

The latter isn't a concern for The Dodgers -- because every offseason for the last 5+ years, this is an organization that spends big to bring elite talent to Los Angeles. They brought in Freddie Freeman in 2022 fresh off a 2020 MVP, they signed Shohei Ohtani to a $700 MILLION deal in 2023, Yoshinobu Yamamoto on a 12-year $325 million deal from Japan and he's become one of the best pitchers in baseball. Not to mention guys like Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker, Edwin Diaz -- and basically every other player from reliever to utility guy that they've wanted, they've gotten.

Let's be clear -- I fucking despise The Dodgers. It infuriates me they've been able to sign these star players and trade for even more, and it makes my blood boil how smug the players and their fans are about it. I wish for nothing but bad things to happen to them every postseason, and the only thing that would make me happier than to see them choke away a series in October, would be if it was at the hands of The Cubs.

But at the same time -- who wouldn't want to see their owner and team spend like the Dodgers do? I would be ecstatic if The Cubs traded for Tarik Skubal or signed Shohei Ohtani, and I wouldn't care if they spent $1 Billion+ to do so. It's not my money. But it is my team -- I want to see them win the World Series every year. Dodgers fans have an organization that is actually willing to do that -- and at least for the past couple years, it's worked out pretty damn well.

So in short, the Dodgers don't deserve our outrage. They can do it, so they're doing it. Tip of the cap.

I'm directing my outage at the rest of the MLB -- the cheapskate organizations that are happy to go out and lose 90+ games, do the bare minimum in terms of putting out an on-field product, and still raking in millions of dollars from ticket sales/concessions/etc. A the organizations that spend enough money to trick their fanbases into thinking they care about being competitive -- but aren't going to make serious winning moves so they can cry wolf for a salary cap come December when the CBA is expired.

CBA Expiring, Outlook for 2027

The owners know the CBA is up, and across the league organization's are preparing to go into the offseason to demand a salary cap get put into place so teams like the Dodgers stop showing them up.

(I would lump The Mets in with them, but they're 21 games under .500 with the 2nd biggest payroll in the sport -- a glaring example that money can't truly buy wins, but smart money can).

I do think the motivation behind implementing a salary cap is mostly BS -- it's equal parts the cheap owners across the league wanting to scapegoat the teams that do spend money as the reason one is needed, and the owners that actually are spending money but can't get over the hump.

However, that doesn't mean I think a salary cap being implemented is a bad idea.

As I said early, every other Pro Sports Leagues uses a salary cap. The main draw of a salary cap is to evenly distribute talent throughout the league, creating less competitive advantage for bigger market teams, and rewarding organizations for good drafting and talent development. For a league like the MLB, this is something that seems to me would be very appealing. So much of MLB baseball is about developing your farm system -- they have 5 fucking minor league levels for Christ's sake.

As far as competitive advantage, you could argue either side whether the MLB has more or less competitive advantage than NFL/NBA/NHL. I think if the Dodgers win the World Series this season -- which would be a 3-peat -- that the argument will be stronger that there is one. But I researched a lot of the factors I typically associate with competitive advantage existing in a sport, and no numbers really jumped out at me saying it's a glaring issue in the MLB:

• When was the last time a team 3-peated in your sports league?

  • NBA: 2000-2002 with the Lakers

  • NFL: No team has ever won 3 straight Super Bowls (Packers 1965-1967 before Super Bowl era)

  • NHL: 1980-1983 with the Islanders

  • MLB: 1998-2000 with the Yankees

• What team/s have the longest streak of consecutive postseasons (Current)?

  • NBA: Celtics (12 seasons), Nuggets (8 seasons), T-Wolves (5 seasons)

  • NFL: Bills (7 seasons) -- all-time record, Patriots (11 seasons) and Chiefs (10 seasons)

  • NHL: Avalanche and Lightning (9 seasons), Hurricanes (8 seasons), Oilers (7 seasons)

  • MLB: Dodgers (13 seasons), Astros (9 seasons), Phillies (4 seasons)

• What team/s have the longest streak of consecutively NOT making the postseason (Current)?

  • NBA: Hornets (10 seasons)

  • NFL: Jets (15 seasons -- fucking yikes)

  • NHL: Red Wings (10 seasons)

  • MLB: Angels (11 seasons)

There are probably better metrics to use -- but these come to mind for me. And the MLB doesn't stand out as an outlier in any of those.

But I also think there are compounding factors are to why it doesn't show up in the numbers: the MLB is such a grueling, long regular season (162 games) with a short and exclusive postseason. Anything can happen in any sport when it comes to the playoffs -- but baseball always has stood out to me as the #1 for that argument.

So I do think a salary cap is in the cards for the MLB after this season -- but more importantly, a salary floor.

The current proposed salary cap would be $245.3 million. For reference, the Dodgers current payroll for 2026 is $431.5 million -- so this would be a significant cut and would force them to shed payroll. But to further scope this out -- of the 30 MLB teams, only 9 teams have a current payroll exceeding this cap -- LAD, NYM, NYY, PHI, TOR, BOS, CHC, SD, and ATL.

So if less than a 3rd of the league is spending over what you what propose the cap be set at -- how big of an issue is it really? Is it the fact that the Dodgers and Mets are spending over $100 million more than the proposed cap that's "unfair" -- or is it the fact that more than 2/3's of the league aren't willing to spend to that level that makes it seem "unfair"?

This is where the proposed Salary Floor comes into play -- which is currently set at $171.2 million -- forcing all 30 MLB teams to raise their payroll to at least that number. The glaring stat here to me was that 12 teams -- over 1/3 of the league -- has a payroll below this floor. Teams like the Marlins, the Guardians, and the Cardinals would have to raise their payroll by more than $65 million to hit this floor.

(Also worth noting, the Brewers and Rays are below the floor -- so it is possible to be successful with a low payroll).

This is a factor that smaller market teams are not going to love -- especially ones that don't make a lot of revenue from ticket sales (in most cases due to putting Butt-teams on the field). But this would help level the playing field much more than just implementing a salary cap -- and it would combat, at least in part, the lost wages for players a cap represents.

There is also a proposed plan for revenue sharing that would come into play, which has been dubbed a "50-50 revenue share" for the players to further compensate the lost wages from a hard cap. The MLBPA has major issues with this, because while it seems on paper to the average fan like me to be a good compromise, it's reportedly a very misleading proposal.

All this is to say -- there's a very high probability that the 2027 MLB season will not start in late March like we've become accustomed to. I think we likely will see a holdout -- whether from the owners or from the players (I think owners is more likely from the sounds of it?) -- until resolution is found. The details of that resolution are not clear right now, but my best guess would be we will see some form of a salary cap and salary floor implemented before we see baseball in 2027. I think it'll be higher than the current $243 million, and I think the floor will be higher than the current $171 million if the MLBPA is going to go for it.

And honestly, I think it will be a good thing in the long-run for the league. Think about what's happened in the MLB in recent years in NFL terms -- what if the Cowboys in one offseason signed Patrick Mahomes, Myles Garrett, and every O-lineman, cornerback, receiver on the market they wanted because they had more money to pay them. Then just for good measure, they beef up with Bijan Robinson and Drake London at the deadline because the Falcons are out of playoff contention. Jerry Jones would do it in a heartbeat if he was allowed to spend as much money as he wanted -- but the league caps it for a reason.

It's not like the Dodgers are breaking rules or taking advantage of something -- they're spending money because they can, and it's working! I just don't think the rest of the owners are going to let it continue -- especially if they win another in 2026.

MLB Trade Deadline -- Biggest Moves

Enough about Skubal and The Dodgers and the Owners -- let's talk about the rest of the league. Because despite my soapbox above, there actually are a good amount of teams that aren't throwing in the towel and handing LA another World Series trophy -- many were aggressive at the deadline with hopes of making a deep postseason run themselves.

Red Sox add Adley Rutschman

Hottest team in the MLB got aggressive at the deadline, going in-division for former 1st overall pick Rutschman. He hasn't played since July 18th, if he can stay healthy (Big If), he can be a big-time contributor for the Sox in a wide-open American League. The haul for Baltimore was huge -- but still disappointing for the O's to lose a piece to what was once a promising young core.

Luis Arraez to the Phils

One of the biggest names to get moved -- Arraez is moved once again, this time to Philly. One of the best contact hitters in baseball with a .324 average, a much improved glove defensively at 2nd base, he will be very impactful in this Philly offense. There will be some musical chairs defensively moving him to 2nd, but the bats get a big boost with this move.

Cubs Go All-In (Adjacent)

Delusional Cubs fans like myself were hoping for Tarik Skubal, which obviously wasn't happening. But what we did get was Kevin Gausman -- an aging All-Star who was one of the biggest pitchers on the market, Clay Holmes -- who's been sidelined with injury, but is a premier ground-ball pitcher (plus with Chicago's infield D), and Ryan Zeferjahn -- an under-rated, hard-throwing reliever from LAA.

Birds Part Ways with Noot

The Birds didn't go full firesale, but did deal Lars Nootbaar to Arizona, ending a 6-year stretch with St. Louis. They also dealt Dustin May and Jojo Romero to division rival Milwaukee (scumbag move by scumbags) -- but got a great prospect haul from the Brewers in Alexander Frías and Josiah Ragsdale. No trading Burleson/Masyn Winn, promising seasons from Jordan Walker and JJ Wetherholt, plus adding some nice prospects -- not a bad deadline for the Birds.

Padres Beef Up Rotation

There were rumors the Pads would deal Mason Miller at the deadline -- but instead turned buyers, acquiring Robbie Ray and Casey Mize. They retained both Miller and Adrian Morejon and will make a push for the NL Wildcard with 2 new arms in the arsenal.

Yanks add Bats, Strike Out on Catcher

The Yankees added some slugging between Luis Garcia and Helliot Ramos -- but weren't able to add any relievers to beef up the bullpen, or a catcher to fill the Austin Wells-sized hole in their lineup.

Contending Rays add Weapons

The Rays are sneakily one of the best teams in the MLB this year, and they added one of the best hitting catchers in the league with Liam Hicks. Should add some pop to the Tampa lineup trying to grind their way out of the AL. Not to mention bolstering the starting rotation with Freddy Peralta, a playoff-tested pro despite a rough go in 2026.

Brewers Believe in Themselves

The best record in the MLB belongs to the Brew Crew -- and they didn't think they needed to make any massive additions to get out of a loaded National League. They have the best pitcher in baseball in Jacob Misiorowski, and added the two Cardinals pitchers for depth -- but didn't add any position-player depth, and weren't willing to part with any of their coveted farm-system to acquire Tarik Skubal.

AL Central up for Grabs

The Guardians and the White Sox were the biggest buyers in the AL Central -- a division a team does in fact need to win, believe it or not. Guardians grab Nathaniel Lowe, Foster Griffin, and Jo Adell -- White Sox big move was Luis Castillo from Seattle. I'm not too crazy about either teams additions -- but I do think these will be the two teams we're talking about in September from the Central.