The Los Angeles Dodgers entered their 2026 campaign on top of the world. They did this by coming off a World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays the year prior that went down to the wire en route to a second consecutive Commissioner's Trophy.

This, in turn, put the Dodgers at the forefront of Major League Baseball's discussions about the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association. 

Despite that, the Dodgers plan "to be greedy," according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, during this year's Trade Deadline set for 10 days from now. Los Angeles is also "infatuated" with the idea of becoming the first team in the National League ever to three-peat, per Nightengale. 

The biggest name at this year's deadline is Detroit Tigers' two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. And of course, the Dodgers have been pinged as the heavy favorites to go "all in" for Skubal's services if the cards are right, according to what rival executives told Nightengale. 

This all begs the question: Do the Dodgers really do need Skubal in their rotation? 

As Los Angeles enters August, key rotational pieces have begun working their way back to rejoin the club come postseason time. Southpaw Blake Snell participated in his first rehab start on July 18, going 1.1 innings and striking out four for Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets. 

Tyler Glasnow, who has suffered the most setbacks since his initial move to the Injured List on May 8 with recurring back spasms, has a multitude of bullpen sessions under his belt. The Dodgers have not put a definitive timeline on Glasnow's return. 

This also includes reliever Edwin Díaz, who is coming off the second appearance of a back-to-back on Thursday, before potentially being activated as the Dodgers kick off their first home stand of the second half, hosting the Seattle Mariners next Tuesday. 

The biggest benefactor for the Dodgers has always been their prized farm system. With nine names on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 -- (Josue De Paula (No. 4), Mike Sirota (No. 11), Eduardo Quintero (No. 19), Emil Morales (No. 25), Zyhir Hope (No. 26), Christian Zazueta (No. 68), River Ryan (No. 70), Charles Davalan (No. 83), and James Tibbs III (No. 91) -- there are plenty of prospects to go around that teams would love a piece at. 

If the Tigers do decide to shop Skubal, not only will the Dodgers be the heavy favorites to land him and bolster an already bulked-up rotation in hopes of a three-peat, but the front office is more than suited to help out the southpaw come free agency. 

They'll be side-by-side with Skubal if he potentially sees a better fit with a different team, but the Dodgers have had plenty of experience in negotiation talks for boatloads of money. 

The Dodgers can trade for pieces if it needs to be done at the deadline, but their bread and butter of inking big-time acquisitions happens in the winter. Last year was a prime example of this as Los Angeles signed both Kyle Tucker (four-year, $240 million contract) and Díaz (three-year, $69 million) less than a month apart from each other. 

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