Here comes the anti-Dodger hysteria. Here comes another round of small-market defeatism. Here comes the lockout, not that its occurrence was ever in doubt.Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ trade for back-to-back American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal on Saturday night will only elevate the frustration of many fans and people inside the game with Major League Baseball’s economic system.Yet, Skubal to the Dodgers was not fait accompli, nor should it have been. Other contenders had big-time prospects to offer. Every team could afford the remaining $9.4 million on Skubal’s contract. How is that the Dodgers again were the ones to step up? How is it they so often pull off these kinds of moves, even when money is not the deciding factor?The sport’s economic system needs addressing, no doubt. Not necessarily with a salary cap, a demand by the owners that threatens to wipe out part or all of the 2027 season. But with other ways to help benefit the small markets and allow the sport to continue its renaissance.A renaissance that, by the way, has been fueled in part by the Dodgers’ remarkable evolution into a super-power — an evolution that was almost impossible to imagine when the team filed for bankruptcy under its previous ownership 15 years ago.The Dodgers aren’t just doing this with money, though their vast revenues sure help. They are the industry standard, or close to it, in scouting, developing, trading, every aspect of a baseball operation. They also possess a singular quality that most other teams do not, a fearlessness that could help them become the first team to win three straight World Series since the 1998 to 2000 Yankees.Should we crown the Dodgers following the Skubal trade?Derek VanRiper and Eno SarrisNo doubt, the Dodgers possess other advantages, too.They’ve exploited their ability to withhold from revenue sharing a healthy portion of their mammoth local TV deal, an arrangement that arose from a settlement in bankruptcy court between MLB and former owner Frank McCourt.They’ve also exploited their signing of Shohei Ohtani, the greatest player of our generation, to an absurdly deferred $700 million deal that he offered to every club pursuing him in free agency, including his previous one, the Los Angeles Angels.But consider the Skubal trade. The Dodgers parted with their third-round pick in 2023, right-hander Brady Smith, and two players they acquired in deals that initially attracted little attention, right-hander River Ryan and outfielder Zyhir Hope.Ryan came in a trade from San Diego for outfielder Matt Beaty before even throwing a pitch in the Padres’ organization. Hope arrived in a deal in which the Dodgers were trying to clear 40-man roster spots. First baseman Michael Busch and pitcher Yency Almonte went to the Chicago Cubs for Hope and pitcher Jackson Ferris, who had such little professional experience they did not need to be protected on the 40-man roster.A number of other top Dodgers prospects also arrived in seemingly minor trades. Outfielders James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard for Dustin May. Outfielders Mike Sirota and Charles Davalan for Gavin Lux — Davalan with the competitive balance pick that was part of the deal.That’s not money-whipping the competition. That’s outsmarting it. And for Skubal, the Dodgers had the depth to trade three talented prospects knowing they had dozens more in their system.Ryan, Smith and Hope are highly regarded. The Tigers did well. But other teams, notably the Milwaukee Brewers, could have parted with better prospects for Skubal. They decided against it, allowing the Dodgers to dunk on the industry again.Young, inexpensive players hold greater value for small-market teams like the Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays than they do for the Dodgers. There is a strong argument that this was the moment for both those clubs to push for Skubal, who could have transformed the Brewers, in particular, the way CC Sabathia did in 2008.The Rays own the best record in the AL, the Brewers the best in the NL. Neither club has won a World Series. Yes, Skubal is a rental, and something of a gamble — he underwent an innovative surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow on May 6. But he has a 2.87 ERA in nine starts since returning, looking very much like his Cy Young self.Why didn’t the two small-market teams try harder for Skubal? The Brewers did not consider Skubal’s remaining $9.4 million an obstacle, a person briefed on their thinking told The Athletic. The Rays likely did not, either. But here’s something else the Dodgers exploit: the risk-averse nature of so many other clubs in today’s game.The Dodgers can afford to take more chances, afford to guarantee a ridiculous $240 million to a complementary player such as Kyle Tucker in free agency. But the dirty little secret of a salary cap and floor system is that it would not guarantee small-market teams success. Many would need to develop more of a killer instinct, an instinct the Dodgers demonstrate time and again.Oh, and another thing: Much as MLB will use this trade as more labor-negotiation fodder, Skubal does not ensure the Dodgers will win their third straight World Series.People forget, they lost in the 2022 and 2023 Division Series to division opponents from smaller markets, the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks. They nearly lost again in the DS to the Padres in 2024, and needed seven games and a whole lot of fortunate occurrences to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series last year.Skubal obviously strengthens the Dodgers’ already powerful rotation. A front three in the postseason of Skubal, Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be difficult to overcome in October. But Ohtani is dealing with knee and biceps issues. It is unclear when he will pitch again. And if his problems affect his hitting — they haven’t yet — the Dodgers will be a lesser team.Yet even before acquiring Skubal, the Dodgers believed that, if healthy, their pitching staff might be the strongest of this dominant era. The addition of Skubal further safeguards them, at a time when Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are working their way back from injuries and Justin Wrobleski has already surpassed his career-high in innings. The Dodgers have so many options, in their bullpen as well, that it’s difficult to imagine their staff crumbling.Offensively, too, it’s an effort to find too many flaws. The Dodgers’ position-player group is the oldest in the majors. If they had lost last year’s Series, the team’s collective age would have drawn greater attention. But this year’s offense, even with its inconsistencies, still ranks among the game’s best.So yes, a third straight World Series title seems quite possible, if not as inevitable as MLB would like you to believe.The hysteria is coming. The lockout is coming. And amid all the noise, something important will be obscured.The Dodgers are good at this. Better than everyone else.