Why Cubs will trade for Tarik Skubal instead of Dodgers

The Chicago Cubs entered the 2026 season with World Series aspirations. At 34-31, the franchise may need some extra reinforcements to bolster their hopeful playoff run.

Especially when it comes to the pitching department. Chicago has been hamstrung by injuries in 2026 with pitchers like Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton and Justin Steele on the injured list. Ben Brown is in the midst of a breakout and the Cubs still have pitchers like Shota Imanaga and Edward Cabrera. However, Chicago entered Sunday ranked 19th in the league with a 4.35 ERA.

Enter Tarik Skubal.

With the Detroit Tigers floundering to a 27-39 record and Skubal set to be a free agent after the season, the right-hander has become the hottest name on the trade market. The Cubs must be well aware of the situation.

They won’t be alone in their pursuit of Skubal. The Los Angeles Dodgers are all-in on a third-straight World Series for example. But with the Cubs desperate in their own right, Skubal will be on the North Side at the conclusion of the trade deadline.

Cubs will trade for Tarik Skubal

The Cubs broke a four-year playoff drought in 2025, making the Division Series. They know if they want to go further, they need to surpass their NL Central rival Milwaukee Brewers let alone the Dodgers. Trading for a player like Skubal shows that Chicago is serious about winning.

The right-hander is currently making his way back from elbow surgery. But prior to the injury, Skubal put up a 2.70 ERA and a 45/6 K/BB ratio. If he pitched for the Cubs, he would far and away have the best ERA of any pitcher with 12+ starts. Of course, that’s not really shocking considering Skubal has won back-t0-back AL Cy Young awards.

When it comes to prospect capital, it’s hard to compete with the Dodgers, who have eight players inside the top 100 current prospects, via MLB Pipeline. Still, the Cubs have four. And they have more MLB-ready options the Tigers could covet. Players like Matt Shaw or Moises Ballesteros could intrigue Detroit if the team plans on continuing to compete post-Skubal.

Ultimately, the Cubs trading for Skubal fixes Chicago’s biggest issue with arguably the best pitcher in the entire league. Chicago wants to win, but their current pitching staff doesn’t look as daunting come October. With Skubal leading the charge, some injury lucky, bounce backs from Cabrera and Imanaga and Brown continuing his hot streak, the Cubs could have one of the scariest rotations in the league. That may be a lot of ifs, but having Skubal helps mitigate some of the concern.

The Dodgers will pose a fight for Skubal, but the Cubs’ need for pitching and to compete is much greater. Should Chicago see him go to Los Angeles, their chances of winning the NL pennant decrease immensely. The best way for the Cubs to ensure that doesn’t happen is trading for him themselves.

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