The Los Angeles Dodgers may not have the best farm system in all of baseball, but they have a surplus of minor-league outfielders, and there's no doubt that will pique the Detroit Tigers' interest.

When looking at the Dodgers' top prospects, pitcher River Ryan is certainly someone whose name has come up time and time again. At 27 years old, he remains in Triple-A and has yet to debut in the big leagues, but Eric Lauer has been seen as the expendable pitcher should the Dodgers need to include one in order to bring in Tarik Skubal.

The Tigers know that trading Skubal is the right decision, but that doesn't mean it's a decision they want to make. If anything, it'll only happen if a team is willing to overpay, and USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale speculates that's exactly what the Dodgers will do.

"They may not need Skubal, they’d love just to keep him away from everyone else," he wrote. "And once they have him, well, they might as well keep him."

At that point, why not? An upcoming lockout in 2027 could certainly affect things, but the Dodgers have shelled out major contracts left and right. It doesn't bother them in the slightest to include a bit of deferred money, and if that's what it takes to get a deal done with Skubal, that's exactly what they'll do.

In terms of putting a trade together, Nightengale said the following: "The Dodgers are so loaded with prized minor-league outfielders they could hand them out for Halloween, and still be fine."

Jose De Paula is this team's highly touted No. 1 prospect, and for good reason. He's an outfielder with a 2027 ETA, but he's far from the only one. No. 2 Mike Sirota is in that same boat, as is Zyhir Hope. 

In pursuit of a historic three-peat, something that's never been done by a team in the National League before, the Tigers could get greedy and ask for far too much out of the Dodgers, and they could oblige with ease. 

LA also has No. 3 Eduardo Quintero, who's an outfielder with a 2028 ETA. Not too far behind is fellow 2028 ETA outfielder No. 9 Charles Davalan. If that's not enough, No. 9 James Tibbs III is a 2027 ETA who can play in both the outfield and at first base.

The Dodgers' problem is they have so many talented veterans on their big-league roster, there's simply no room for these prospects. Ultimately, they won't even know they're gone, but they'll know for certain that Skubal could boost their odds of a 2026 World Series title.

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