MLB Rumors: Dodgers door open for Tarik Skubal as Yankees eye bats

With the calendar now flipped to February, the MLB offseason is now nearing a conclusion, but several exciting players remain available both in free agency and on the trade market. Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen headline the best free agents left unsigned, and the Detroit Tigers have yet to shut down Tarik Skubal trade talks, leaving MLB fans' worst nightmares a clear possibility.

The latest MLB rumors cover the Los Angeles Dodgers potentially making a move to acquire Skubal and the New York Yankees looking to add to their offense in free agency.

Yankees looking for right-handed outfielder

Outside of re-signing Cody Bellinger, the Yankees have had a very quiet offseason, particularly in free agency. This could change, though, based on what The Athletic's ($) Brendan Kuty reported on Saturday.

"The New York Yankees are searching for a right-handed outfield bat in free agency and the trade market, multiple league sources tell The Athletic," Kuty wrote.

Kuty named Randal Grichuk as a potential option that the Yankees have expressed interest in. As underwhelming as a guy like Grichuk or any right-handed-hitting outfielder whose primary job would be to platoon would be, this would fill a clear hole on the team's roster, mainly because of how left-handed-heavy this Yankees team is. Just look at their projected Opening Day lineup.

Six of their nine projected Opening Day starters are left-handed. The Yankees likely plan on platooning Ryan McMahon with right-handed-hitting Amed Rosario against lefties, but several Yankees had major platoon splits worth noting in 2025.

Grichuk's .703 OPS against lefties in 2025 was a bit underwhelming, but he has a career .819 OPS against southpaws, a much better mark than any of the left-handed hitters above. It might not be flashy, but signing Grichuk or a different right-handed hitter who crushes lefties would make the Yankees better.

Dodgers have reason to consider Tarik Skubal trade after all

Andrew Friedman could not have been clearer when he said Los Angeles was not in the market for starting pitching. This stance made sense given the Dodgers' abundance of starting pitching depth, but the latest Blake Snell update could change that.

"Snell and the team decided to have the 33-year-old slow-play his winter throwing program this offseason, Jack Harris wrote for the California Post. The plan, Snell said, is to still be ready for Opening Day in late March. But at this point, that is not seen as a certainty within the organization."

The hope is to have Snell, who threw a ton of innings late last season, ready for Opening Day, but that's far from a formality. With Snell's availability up in the air and other Dodgers pitchers like Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki having injury histories, perhaps the Dodgers will feel the need to add a starter to the mix. Who better to add than Skubal?

The Tigers don't appear eager to trade Skubal even amid the team's arbitration struggles with the back-to-back Cy Young winner, but the fact that they haven't shut down trade talks involving the southpaw suggests they'd be open to dealing him for the right return. The Dodgers could offer something like this and not break a sweat due to their loaded farm system and abundance of pitching depth.

Is a deal likely to go down? Of course not. The Dodgers would be favorites to win the World Series whether they land Skubal, a pending free agent, or not. However, Snell's availability leaves the door open for Friedman to take yet another big swing. Based on everything the Dodgers have done for several years now, it'd be foolish to rule them out of anything.

Acquiring Skubal might lead to an uproar, but it'd also put the Dodgers in the best possible position to three-peat.

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