One week after arriving in Los Angeles via trade from Detroit, Tarik Skubal already has his first great Dodger story — and it’s exactly the kind of thing you’d expect from a team with the highest payroll in baseball.
The two-time American League Cy Young Award winner (2024 and 2025) was floored by the sheer size of the Dodger Stadium clubhouse. So floored, in fact, that he got completely turned around inside it.
«I went to look for the hot tub and wound up in the batting cage»
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale caught up with Skubal for his first impressions of his new home, and the left-hander held nothing back. First came the team plane — the Dodgers have a private aircraft reserved exclusively for their players, a perk that lands differently when you experience it for the first time. Then came the clubhouse.
«I can’t believe how big that is. I went to look for the hot tub and wound up in the batting cage,» Skubal told Nightengale in a column published August 9, 2026.
The line works because it’s true. Dodger Stadium’s facilities complex is one of the largest and best-equipped in all of MLB, the product of years of ownership investment. Getting lost in it on your first week is a completely reasonable thing to do.
It’s also not the first time Skubal has shown a grounded side since joining the club. At his introductory press conference on August 4, he was already managing expectations: «I’m not going to sit here and say I’m the big piece,» he told reporters, per MLB.com — this on a team that already had one of the best rotations in baseball before adding him.
The trade that defined the deadline
The Dodgers acquired Skubal on August 2, 2026, sending three prospects to the Detroit Tigers. The deal instantly became the headline move of the trade deadline, bolstering a rotation already chasing a third straight championship.
He made his debut three days later, on August 5 at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. His home debut was set for Monday, August 11, against the Kansas City Royals at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium.
Skubal arrives with one of the most decorated résumés of his generation. In 2024 he won the pitching Triple Crown — 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA, and 228 strikeouts — and then backed it up by repeating as Cy Young winner in 2025. Those numbers are exactly why Los Angeles gave up three prospects without blinking.
The hot tub story is bigger than a punchline
Here’s where the clubhouse anecdote stops being just a joke. Skubal hits free agency after the 2026 season, represented by Scott Boras. Nightengale has already publicly anticipated that the Dodgers will sign him — and projections point to a contract that could surpass the 12-year, $325 million deal Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the same team. If that happens, Skubal would become the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history.
The Dodgers have the highest payroll in the league, and their ownership has consistently shown a willingness to invest in everything: players, facilities, logistics. The private plane, the enormous clubhouse, the hot tub Skubal couldn’t find — none of it is an accident.
It’s how a franchise with unlimited resources tells a player, before any contract ever hits the table: this is where you’ll want to stay.
Skubal seems to be getting the message just fine. And baseball is already locked in on August 11 and whatever comes next.
