Dodgers planning painfully obvious Tarik Skubal free agency move

The Los Angeles Dodgers are not about to let Tarik Skubal walk out the door without a fight. As the two-time Cy Young Award winner hits free agency, the Dodgers are already making their interest known.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said the team has been in contact with Skubal’s camp and expects to meet with the star left-hander “at some point,” according to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers paid a steep price to land Skubal from the Detroit Tigers this past summer, sending outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith to Detroit in a blockbuster trade.

Skubal delivered after the move, posting a 2.61 ERA over 10 starts and 62 innings with Los Angeles. Overall, he finished the regular season with a 2.72 ERA, a 0.964 WHIP and 186 strikeouts across 158.2 innings.

His stint in Los Angeles ended on a sour note, though. The Dodgers were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, with Skubal taking the loss in a 2-1 defeat in Game 1. Afterward, he was not ready to talk about his future.

“I’m not going to comment on my future really at all. Today sucks, you know, and that’s kind of where my head’s at,” Skubal said a month ago.

The Dodgers will not have the field to themselves. The New York Mets have already scheduled a meeting with Skubal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Whoever lands the 29-year-old will have to pay up. ESPN’s Jeff Passan expects Skubal to command “well in excess of $300 million, potentially in the $400 million-plus range,” which would make him one of the highest-paid pitchers in MLB history.

For a Dodgers team that is looking to bounce back from an NLCS sweep, bringing back Skubal would go a long way.

The Skubal sweepstakes are just getting started, and the Dodgers are clearly in it.