Friedman, Roberts push back on narrative Dodgers ruining baseball - ESPN

The Dodgers acquired reigning ace Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in a three-prospect deal, sending outfielder Zyhir Hope and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith to Detroit, with talks intensifying Friday and Saturday.
The trade sparked immediate backlash, as rival scouts, executives and players privately questioned why Detroit's return wasn't larger and why contenders like the Brewers and Rays didn't intervene to keep Skubal away from Los Angeles.
Fans tied the deal to the Dodgers' vast resources and MLB's ongoing push for a salary cap, again placing the franchise at the center of debate over the sport's economics.
Manager Dave Roberts pushed back on the criticism, saying "there's nothing that we did that no one else couldn't have done" and crediting the front office and one of baseball's top farm systems for enabling the move.
Skubal, 29, joined his new teammates in the dugout for Sunday's 8-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox and is set to make his Dodgers debut against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, taking the rotation spot of Eric Lauer, who moves to the bullpen and is expected to be traded.
The addition bolsters an already elite staff—the Dodgers entered Sunday tied with Milwaukee for the best rotation ERA in MLB—with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani all expected back, while Friedman "passionately" rejected the notion that the team is ruining baseball.