CC Sabathia criticizes Brewers for missing out on Tarik Skubal as Dodgers swing for contention

Milwaukee’s postseason path just got harder in the public imagination, and CC Sabathia did not mince words about it. In an episode of MLB According to CC, the Hall of Fame pitcher argued that the Brewers “blew it” by not landing Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, framing the decision as a missed chance to put Milwaukee in the same top-end conversation as the National League’s biggest title threats.

The backdrop is a late-season trade that sent Skubal to the Dodgers. The move made him the centerpiece of Los Angeles’ rotation picture, and it also shifted the balance of power for teams hoping to catch the NL’s leading contenders. Sabathia, reflecting on why the Skubal acquisition matters, suggested that when a club is within reach of a deep October run, acquiring an elite starter is not a luxury. It is often the difference between “almost” and “contending.”

Skubal’s arrival in Los Angeles is particularly notable because he is a two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner, according to the context surrounding the trade described by Yahoo Sports. Sabathia’s critique of Milwaukee was rooted in that reality: an award-caliber starter is the kind of player who can stabilize a playoff rotation, and it can also force other teams to adjust both their postseason expectations and their pitching plans.

For the Brewers, Sabathia’s point was not simply that they lacked a particular name, but that the deadline window is where contenders separate from the rest. If a team believes it has a legitimate path to the NL pennant or beyond, the starter market becomes a measuring stick for urgency. Sabathia’s assessment implies that Milwaukee’s roster-building approach at the deadline did not match the magnitude of the moment, especially with the Dodgers strengthening what was already a title-facing roster.

In that light, the “ripple effects” of the Skubal deal extend beyond Los Angeles. Milwaukee has to account for what it means when the strongest teams absorb the best remaining starting pitching talent. Sabathia’s comments point to a central operational truth of MLB: when you do not add a difference-maker during the window, you are rarely just standing pat. You are usually falling behind the teams that did.

What to watch next for Milwaukee is how it responds in the pitching usage and roster configuration that follow a trade like this. Without making claims about specific moves, the immediate test is whether the Brewers can still assemble enough pitching certainty for a playoff series, despite the Dodgers’ updated rotation picture. For Los Angeles, the question becomes whether Skubal’s transition into the Dodgers’ plans produces the level of dominance that contenders need in late innings and high-leverage games, when the margin for error disappears.