August 2, 2026 • 6 mins
The Dodgers president of baseball operations details how they pulled off the blockbuster trade for Tarik Skubal.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk. Well,
Andrew Freeman has done it again. No word on whether
or not he was in that bathrobe he was in
during the winter meetings a few years ago, but Derek
Scouble is a Dodger, a two time cy Young Award winner,
and Andrew's still in the thick of the trade deadline.
(00:21):
So thank you so much for the time.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
How much time do you have to enjoy being able
to pull off this type of trade two.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And a half minutes, the phone start uring in right after,
and obviously we're in the thick of it, and once
we get to three o'clock tomorrow, that's when we can
exhale and go hibernate.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
When did you believe you had a real shot that
the Tigers liked what you had to offer.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I think yesterday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Even then I would say that I was more confident,
but not confident. You have no idea exactly what other
teams were offering. And obviously since got Harris's interest to
make it seem like it's more from other teams, and
you know he's probably saying that to every team. But
(01:09):
we knew that what we put out there was aggressive
and there was no way that someone was beating it
by a lot. And so then the question was, you know,
obviously how they see our guys, and you know, just
through conversation felt reasonably confident. But until he called and said, hey,
we have a deal, I wasn't sure.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Can you tell us about the players that you sent
to Detroit because it feels like they're not getting enough
of the value that you saw in them when you
acquired a few of these guys.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, their hope is an incredibly talented outfielder, really good
bat speed. He's improved his back to ball, like the
contact raid has increased while he's still doing damage. Great
has really blossomed in our system, and feel really confident
(02:05):
he's gonna be a good major league player.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
River Ryan obviously we got to see some.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Unfortunately had the UCL and the Tommy John came back
from that this spring training. We got to see exactly
just how electric he still was even after surgery. And
then Brady Smith is a third round high school pitcher.
It took a few years ago, had Tommy John, but
just has a really funky kind of low slot ride
(02:34):
fastball can really spin a baseball, really good athlete, and
feel like, you know, it's a great bet on the
come of what he's capable of and really talented and hated.
You know partis him in this, but obviously have to
give up really good players to acquire Trek Scooble.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
We all know how good Schooble is when he's on
the mound, but you obviously witnessed what made Cruse shot great.
It wasn't just every fifth day, but the way he
competed in the weight room, the way he pushed and
had everybody feel that accountability to do the same. It
feels like Schooble's that type of guy.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, everything we've gotten on the guy, the makeup the
competitor is as good as you could ask for, which
in turn made us even more aggressive and trying to
require him. It's like watching him last October gave me goosebumps.
I love watching playoff baseball, especially when I don't care
(03:31):
about the outcome. I hate watching our games, but love
watching others. And it gave me goosebumps watching him compete
last October.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
You could feel the energy through the TV.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And just the way he goes after hitters It's rare
to have that combination of power to your stuff and
also feel in command. So to have that kind of
dominant stuff and not walk guys, challenge hitters in the
strike zone, be able to throw pitches kind of on
to off to get miss. It's exactly how you draw
(04:05):
it up. And he is incredibly talented and really excited
about watching him compete in Dodger Blow.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So is everybody else.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Trek Scooble is a Dodger thanks to Andrew Friedman. Before
I let you go, there's so much said out there
that is not true when it pertains to this time
of year. Everybody assumes that you acquired Schooble just because
there's some conspiracy theory that Otani is not going to
pitch again this year. Was that a factor in any
of this, the uncertainty of that.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
No, I mean, we feel very confident that Show will
be back. You know, obviously Snell one more rehab outing
then he'll be back. Glass is going out on rehab.
As far as the injuries for those guys, we feel
good that they're in the rearview mirror and it's about
just building up and getting him back here. Show will
start playing catch this week. We feel as confident as
(04:59):
we can can that those guys will be back, but
obviously in two months things can happen, and for us,
this is the last real point in the year and
the calendar to add to your group.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And so, you know, we.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Went into this trade deadline with the mindset of we
were going to be aggressive for one player, Trek Scooble.
If we don't line up on Trek'schooble, we're good going
as is, you know, maybe smaller moves here or there,
But that was our mindset was we are going to
be aggressive on one player because of how much we
feel like he improves our championship odds. And fortunately we
(05:36):
were able to line up.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
When does Scooble pitch for the first time for the
Dodgers Tuesday night tune Ino, Will you be at Wrigley
with us?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I will not. I'll be hibernating. I will wake up
to watch Trek Schooble.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Though you'll be recovering from this trade deadline. Thanks a
lot for the time, Andrew Freeman. Still eating healthy these
days with the fruit again, the blood sugar up. Hey,
thank you again for the time. I know it's a
busy situation until tomorrow at three o'clock, but Trek school
is a dodger.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yep. Thanks for having me on, I appreciate it.
And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk. Well,
Andrew Freeman has done it again. No word on whether
or not he was in that bathrobe he was in
during the winter meetings a few years ago, but Derek
Scouble is a Dodger, a two time cy Young Award winner,
and Andrew's still in the thick of the trade deadline.
(00:21):
So thank you so much for the time.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
How much time do you have to enjoy being able
to pull off this type of trade two.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And a half minutes, the phone start uring in right after,
and obviously we're in the thick of it, and once
we get to three o'clock tomorrow, that's when we can
exhale and go hibernate.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
When did you believe you had a real shot that
the Tigers liked what you had to offer.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I think yesterday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Even then I would say that I was more confident,
but not confident. You have no idea exactly what other
teams were offering. And obviously since got Harris's interest to
make it seem like it's more from other teams, and
you know he's probably saying that to every team. But
(01:09):
we knew that what we put out there was aggressive
and there was no way that someone was beating it
by a lot. And so then the question was, you know,
obviously how they see our guys, and you know, just
through conversation felt reasonably confident. But until he called and said, hey,
we have a deal, I wasn't sure.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Can you tell us about the players that you sent
to Detroit because it feels like they're not getting enough
of the value that you saw in them when you
acquired a few of these guys.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, their hope is an incredibly talented outfielder, really good
bat speed. He's improved his back to ball, like the
contact raid has increased while he's still doing damage. Great
has really blossomed in our system, and feel really confident
(02:05):
he's gonna be a good major league player.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
River Ryan obviously we got to see some.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Unfortunately had the UCL and the Tommy John came back
from that this spring training. We got to see exactly
just how electric he still was even after surgery. And
then Brady Smith is a third round high school pitcher.
It took a few years ago, had Tommy John, but
just has a really funky kind of low slot ride
(02:34):
fastball can really spin a baseball, really good athlete, and
feel like, you know, it's a great bet on the
come of what he's capable of and really talented and hated.
You know partis him in this, but obviously have to
give up really good players to acquire Trek Scooble.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
We all know how good Schooble is when he's on
the mound, but you obviously witnessed what made Cruse shot great.
It wasn't just every fifth day, but the way he
competed in the weight room, the way he pushed and
had everybody feel that accountability to do the same. It
feels like Schooble's that type of guy.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, everything we've gotten on the guy, the makeup the
competitor is as good as you could ask for, which
in turn made us even more aggressive and trying to
require him. It's like watching him last October gave me goosebumps.
I love watching playoff baseball, especially when I don't care
(03:31):
about the outcome. I hate watching our games, but love
watching others. And it gave me goosebumps watching him compete
last October.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
You could feel the energy through the TV.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And just the way he goes after hitters It's rare
to have that combination of power to your stuff and
also feel in command. So to have that kind of
dominant stuff and not walk guys, challenge hitters in the
strike zone, be able to throw pitches kind of on
to off to get miss. It's exactly how you draw
(04:05):
it up. And he is incredibly talented and really excited
about watching him compete in Dodger Blow.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So is everybody else.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Trek Scooble is a Dodger thanks to Andrew Friedman. Before
I let you go, there's so much said out there
that is not true when it pertains to this time
of year. Everybody assumes that you acquired Schooble just because
there's some conspiracy theory that Otani is not going to
pitch again this year. Was that a factor in any
of this, the uncertainty of that.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
No, I mean, we feel very confident that Show will
be back. You know, obviously Snell one more rehab outing
then he'll be back. Glass is going out on rehab.
As far as the injuries for those guys, we feel
good that they're in the rearview mirror and it's about
just building up and getting him back here. Show will
start playing catch this week. We feel as confident as
(04:59):
we can can that those guys will be back, but
obviously in two months things can happen, and for us,
this is the last real point in the year and
the calendar to add to your group.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And so, you know, we.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Went into this trade deadline with the mindset of we
were going to be aggressive for one player, Trek Scooble.
If we don't line up on Trek'schooble, we're good going
as is, you know, maybe smaller moves here or there,
But that was our mindset was we are going to
be aggressive on one player because of how much we
feel like he improves our championship odds. And fortunately we
(05:36):
were able to line up.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
When does Scooble pitch for the first time for the
Dodgers Tuesday night tune Ino, Will you be at Wrigley
with us?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I will not. I'll be hibernating. I will wake up
to watch Trek Schooble.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Though you'll be recovering from this trade deadline. Thanks a
lot for the time, Andrew Freeman. Still eating healthy these
days with the fruit again, the blood sugar up. Hey,
thank you again for the time. I know it's a
busy situation until tomorrow at three o'clock, but Trek school
is a dodger.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yep. Thanks for having me on, I appreciate it.
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