SACRAMENTO — As the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare for the trade deadline, they’re expected to be linked to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. However, the primary focus for the back-to-back champions isn’t on the major-league roster, according to multiple sources familiar with the club’s thinking who were granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.The Dodgers want to improve the depth of their minor-league system and are prepared to part with at least one of their top outfield prospects not named Josue De Paula to do so.While the Dodgers are considered to have one of the best farm systems in baseball, much of that talent comes from the outfield. De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Zyhir Hope, Mike Sirota and James Tibbs III are all considered top MLB prospects. Kendall George, Ching-Hsien Ko, Zach Ehrhard and Chuck Davalan represent a strong second tier. The Dodgers are comfortable dealing from that position group to address other areas of their farm system, such as catching and middle-infield depth.The Dodgers’ starting pitching is thin in the upper minors, aside from River Ryan and Jackson Ferris. Los Angeles is believed to be searching for high-ceiling prospects in a potential trade and isn’t necessarily coveting major-league-ready talent in a return.It’s rare for an organization to deem any prospect truly untouchable, but the hype around 21-year-old De Paula is real. Team executives and rival scouts rave about his bat, with several describing him as the player with the best pure hit tool to come up in the organization since Corey Seager, who debuted in 2015.De Paula is hitting .312 with a .945 OPS through 71 games with Double-A Tulsa, with almost as many stolen bases (20) as doubles (22). But according to multiple team sources, the Dodgers would entertain trading any of their other outfield farmhands if they could land another highly touted prospect in a different position group.What's behind Denzer Guzmán's power breakout?Andrea ArcadipaneThis type of deal comes straight from president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman’s textbook of operations, including two he’s made over the last two years. Fittingly, the returns of those trades have put Friedman in a prime position to make another one.In 2024, the longtime executive traded then-top-100 prospect Michael Busch (along with reliever Yency Almonte) to the Chicago Cubs for two of the organization’s top prospects, Ferris and Hope. Nearly a year later, Friedman sent utilityman Gavin Lux (who was no longer a prospect when he was traded, but was still a young player with several years of team control remaining) to the Cincinnati Reds and landed Sirota, plus a competitive balance pick (No. 37 overall) in return. That pick ended up being Davalan.