Exclusive | Blake Snell already leveraging bromance with Tarik Skubal to lure ace back to Dodgers

On what might have been his final night in the Dodgers clubhouse, Tarik Skubal did not want to contemplate his future.From two lockers over, however, teammate Blake Snell didn’t waste any time in beginning to make a sales pitch to this winter’s top free agent player.“I just said, he can’t leave me, especially on these terms,” Snell told the California Post, following the Dodgers’ elimination in the National League Championship Series.“The goal is to win a World Series, and we weren’t able to do that … So now that it’s over, it’s like, ‘Don’t leave.’”When the offseason begins next month, there will be plenty of other teams making their own efforts to woo Skubal.As a 29-year-old two-time Cy Young Award winner, he could be poised to break MLB’s record signing for a pitcher, currently held by fellow Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto at $325 million.The Dodgers, however, might have something of a leg up.After they traded for Skubal in a blockbuster deal at this year’s deadline from the Detroit Tigers, the left-hander quickly embraced his surroundings in Los Angeles.“Incredible organization, incredible teammates, incredible fanbase,” he said, after being denied the chance to start a potential Game 5 following the Dodgers’ four-game sweep to the Brewers.

“Doesn’t make this feel any better.It sucks.

But you know, I think everybody in here gave it everything they had, and sometimes that’s just baseball.”When asked if he hoped to be back with the Dodgers next year, Skubal wasn’t ready to begin speculating about his free agency.“I’m not going to comment on my future really at all,” he said.“Today sucks.

That’s kind of where my head’s at.”But when reflecting on how much he enjoyed his three-month stint in the organization –– the first time he had played for any other team than the Tigers –– he was effusive in his praise for the club and its players.“It was great,” he said.“The guys in this clubhouse ...