Los Angeles Dodgers blockbuster trade deadline acquisition Tarik Skubal is settling in well with his new team and its postseason success.
Skubal is a free agent over the winter, and the Dodgers made their big midseason trade, giving up top prospects, knowing the risk and aware that he may leave.
However, Skubal may not be too much of a threat to flee after all.
Tarik Skubal is fully a Dodger
Despite joining the team nearly two months ago, Skubal has looked very at home in the clubhouse.
From bonding closely with Blake Snell to showering the team’s key players, like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, with praise, Skubal hasn’t been shy about showing how happy he is with the team.
No evidence is stronger than Skubal’s post-NLDS celebration, just one part of an absolutely crazy Dodgers clubhouse scene.
During an interview with Sportsnet LA reporter Kirsten Watson, Skubal was asked about the celebration for clinching a spot in the NLCS, and Skubal did not hold back.
“I can’t f****** wait,” he said, as he held two different Budweisers in his hand and quickly held them up and downed them.
Things didn’t get any more normal for Skubal later on as he gave one of the craziest interviews ever to another Sportsnet LA reporter, David Vassegh.
At one point, there was a beer in Tarik Skubal where there should not have been, and the bullpen members proceeded to spray beer all over Skubal.
Why Skubal is likely to stay
Eventually, things settled down enough for Skubal to talk about how much this Dodgers team meant to him.
“It’s a great team. The culture they have here, the preparation, the expectation to win, I love being a part of it,” Skubal said during the NLDS celebration.
And in one final revealing tidbit, Skubal made it clear how much winning matters.
“If you don’t play the game to win, then I don’t relate to you. I’m excited to be part of it,” he added.
As he makes more postseason memories with the Dodgers, the odds of a free-agent pitch increase.
If the Dodgers make a competitive offer, and with their spending ability, it’s hard to see them not; moments like this, and wins, make re-signing with the Dodgers the expected outcome.
A lot can change, and many factors are at play, but Skubal is fully integrated as a Dodger, and that may remain the case as the postseason progresses.
