Dear Baseball,

Thanks for the season. Too bad it looks inevitable that the Dodgers will win their third consecutive championship. Hope to see you next year, but I’m not counting on it (See 2027 lockout).

Sincerely,

A baseball lifer

... Well, how do you feel that the Dodgers unloaded three top prospects to the Dodgers for Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Tarik Skubal?

Many believe they secured themselves another championship in the process. Unless their offense breaks down, it sure looks that way.

With Skubal, the Dodgers’ payroll apparently soared to $430 million, which will cost them a tax bill of $180 million. This is the same team that paid outfielder Kyle Tucker $60 million per season, as part of a four-year, $240 million deal.

Surprisingly, Skubal won his arbitration case for $32 million this year, and will be an unrestricted free agent. He is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, and is believed to make north of $400 million in his next deal.

The level of hatred toward the Tinseltown Tribe outside of their fans has taken another meteoric rise. Yet, everyone assumed Skubal was going to end up in Los Angeles or Milwaukee because both of them have deep farm systems.

The Phillies reportedly had a Skubal offer on the table of Justin Crawford, Gage Wood and Jonathan Bowlan. It’s surprising the Phils offered Wood, but begs the question as to what could have made the difference?

Could it have been top prospect Aidan Miller? If so, team president Dave Dombrowski should have pulled the trigger. But it appears Dombrowski envisions Miller at third base next year, with Alec Bohm likely allowed to walk into free agency.

At the time of this writing, the Phillies had not made a deal, but the Mets sent Freddy Peralta to Tampa Bay.

Elsewhere, the Yankees sent four minor league pitchers to Washington for left-handed slugging first baseman/designated hitter Luis Garcia, who has 23 homers, 76 RBIs and a .283 average. Garcia leads the league in slugging percentage at .560, and has an .873 on-base percentage.

Garcia’s bat will be appreciated with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger out of the lineup.

The Yanks were high on Yovanny Cruz, one of the four pitchers who had a 7-3, 3.53 mark with 52 strikeouts in 31.1 innings.

But back to the Dodgers.

Don’t blame the Dodgers, as over the past several years, they have built the majors top farm system, and managed not to have to include top prospect outfielder Josue DePaula to the Tigers as part of the deal.

Their shrewd front office managed to give up a 28-year-old pitcher River Ryan, who missed all of last season; high-A pitcher Brady Smith with a 7.71 ERA, and outfielder Zyhir Hope, who has 23 homers and 87 RBIs and a .293 average.

The Dodgers also aren’t afraid to spend, and they have deep pockets, supposedly in the area of $300 million. LA owes $1.1 billion in deferred money with payments to 10 players that are stretched out to 2047.

Still, the Dodgers always have built from within. That concept dates back to Brooklyn’s glory days to the Chavez Ravine 70s days when minor-league skipper and future manager Tommy Lasorda groomed Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, Ron Cey and others for the big stage.

Their pockets are deep, and they always land the big fish when necessary.

Line Them Up ... With Skubal, the Dodgers likely can have a starting staff of Skubal, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan, Eric Laurer, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobo Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.

Snell and Glasnow are in the midst of rehab starts, and could be activated soon. Closer Edwin Diaz is healthy again.

Wrobleski was an All-Star with 10 wins at the break, and Laurer has helped fill the void. Laurer is 6-5 with a 2.96 ERA, but the Dodgers are 9-0 in his starts.

Trying to figure out the starting staff for the postseason is a problem any manager would welcome.

Changing Places ... Skubal isn’t the only Cy Young winner to change teams in midstream.

The Phillies acquired Cliff Lee from the Indians before the 2009 deadline after Lee won the 2008 Cy Young with Cleveland with his 22-3, 2.54 season.

Other moves were Frank Viola from the Twins to the Mets in 1989; David Cone from the Blue Jays to the Yankees in 1995; C.C. Sabathia from the Indians to the Brewers in 2008; and Justin Verlander from the Mets to the Astros in 2023.

Former Harvests ... Over the years, the Phillies farm system has received high marks dating back to the late 1940s. In 1948, the Phillies had 354 players in the system, the most ever. A year later, they had 14 teams in their system stretching from Toronto to Georgia and across to Oregon.

But the Phils’ system has been a true bell curve with plenty of ups and downs.

The 1950 Whiz Kids pitchers Robin Roberts, Jim Konstanty, Bob Miller, Bubba Church, Steve Ridzik and Paul Stuffel; catcher Stan Lopata; second baseman Mike Goliat; third baseman Willie Jones; and outfielder Jack Mayo were all graduates.

In the late 1960s and beyond, Mike Schmidt, Bob Boone, Larry Bowa, Denny Doyle, Greg Luzinski, Lonnie Smith, Marty Bystrom and Kevin Stocker were among those who advanced.

During the early 2000s, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins and Brett Myers were part of the core. In 2016, they did receive the MiLBY award for the Best Farm System.

Since then, the Phils system has had its jewels, but they haven’t had a basket full of gems.

Over the past few seasons, they have been ranked in the low 20s of the 30-team format.

SchwarDuds ... With most of the Phillies recent issues being blamed on the bullpen, Kyle Schwarber’s struggles have flown under the radar.

Since the All-Star break, Schwarber has one homer, four RBIs, and a .186 average. He did miss two games in the Marlins series with an illness.

During the stretch, Schwarber had 10 walks and 19 strikeouts. His last home run was July 18 against the Mets. In July, Schwarber hit .231 with seven homers and 15 RBIs. So far, his best month was in June, when he hit .305 with eight homers and 16 RBIs.

Brave Moves ... With much of the focus on the Dodgers, Phillies and Cubs, the Braves have been relatively quiet all season. They are finally getting their injured players back in alignment like outfielders Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mike Yastrzemski, along with pitchers Martin Perez and A.J. Smith-Shawver.

The Braves may have made a major coup when they acquired Kansas City outfielder Lane Thomas and lefty pitcher Bailey Falter.

Thomas is slumping with 10 homers, 37 RBIs, and a .232 average, but clubbed 28 homers for Washington in 2023. Falter, who can start and relieve, has spent most of the year at Triple-A Omaha.

Thomas had been on the Phils’ list of right-handed bat prospects. The Phils are still looking at Royals right-hander Michael Wacha.

Cutting Bad(er) ... Remember when most of us were disappointed when the Phillies didn’t re-sign Harrison Bader, and he inked a two-year, $20 million deal with the Giants?

Unfortunately, Bader’s injury history again caught up to him. He battled injuries all season, and his latest was a bout with plantar fasciitis. Bader also struggled with his bat, hitting under .200 all season.

Recently, Bader suffered a season-ending foot injury when he recently fell off a scooter. The 32-year-old was hitting .170 with five homers and 14 RBIs in 30 games.

Scrapbook ... In each column, I will recall the career of a former standout from the area.

George Yenser was a 1964 Lehighton graduate who lettered four years in baseball and football. Yenser also was a captain for both the baseball and football teams.

Yenser went on to continue his baseball and football career at New Mexico State. He played baseball for four years and was a captain in his senior year. Yenser also played football for one year.

In his senior year, Yenser led the team in hitting (.407), home runs (3) and RBIs (13).

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