Tarik Skubal is headed to the Los Angeles Dodgers, in a titanic shift at the MLB trade deadline.The Detroit Tigers are finalizing a trade to send the two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner to Los Angeles, according to ESPNs Jeff Passan and the New York Posts Jon Heyman.The deal is a pure rental, as Skubal is set to hit free agency after this season. He is expected to command a deal well into the nine figures, likely larger Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 12-year, $325 million deal that currently stands as the high water mark in total money for MLB pitchers.The deal ends a nine-year tenure in the Detroit organization for Skubal, who was drafted in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB Draft and soon developed into a high-octane lefty arm. Every season up to 2026 saw him grow more refined to the point he was carrying the crown of MLB's top pitcher entering this year.That doesn't mean this deal in particular isn't without risk.What can Tarik Skubal bring to the Dodgers?When evaluating Skubal's current value, it can't be ignored that he technically has undergone an elbow procedure this year, which is usually a scary sequence of words for a pitcher.Skubal was indeed sidelined in May with what were described as "loose bodies" in his elbow, requiring medical intervention to remove them. His recovery time was originally described as a matter of months, potentially derailing the Tigers' season (moreso) and his own free agency.38 days later, he was on an MLB mound again, thanks to a novel procedure in which a needle-sized scope and camera were used to clear out the loose bodies from his elbow. It was a very well-timed advancement in sports medicine.Skubal's underlying velocity and spin numbers haven't looked much different from his pre-surgery form, and the results have been acceptable enough, especially after a rough few first starts. His rate numbers still lag behind what he did in 2024 and 2025, but there is still plenty of reason to bet on the southpaw excelling for the next three months and beyond.