CHICAGO — Tarik Skubal did not go into last week expecting to be the latest avatar for the Los Angeles Dodgers ruining baseball. He didn’t even know where, or if, he would be getting dealt from the Detroit Tigers at all. But when the Dodgers swung the deal that felt inevitable for everyone else, Skubal redirected the conversation.“Every team could trade for me,” Skubal said. “Every team can make that acquisition. I don’t really sympathize with people that blame the Dodgers for anything they’ve done.”A lot has changed for Skubal in a matter of days. At least some of it, he could prepare for. Skubal did not know where he would be pitching this week, but the left-hander hoped he could stay on schedule. So he kept his routine on Saturday and threw a bullpen session while wearing Detroit Tigers gear.Tarik Skubal discusses his trade to the DodgersFabian Ardaya“I was preparing for Tuesday,” Skubal said, “wherever I was at.”Hours later, he received a phone call that he’d been traded to the Dodgers. Skubal will pitch on Tuesday. Some things have not changed.Other things certainly are different, including the shade of blue Skubal wore Monday afternoon when speaking with reporters for the first time as a Dodger. His season in Detroit was defined, in many ways, by the end. A heated arbitration hearing set the tone. An elbow injury required surgery and sunk the Tigers in the standings. An unprecedentedly quick recovery thrust them back into the mix. Skubal was the reigning two-time Cy Young winner trying to hold things together in his final months before free agency, where a record contract likely awaits him.By no means has this been a typical walk year.“There’s nothing I can really do to change any narrative or say anything,’’ Skubal said. “And there’s a lot of stuff I don’t even want to get into. It is what it is, though. It’s just noise. I let you guys talk about all that stuff. I’m going to be focused on playing baseball.”The conversation about Skubal is different now. A horde of cameras followed Skubal into one of the few side rooms at Wrigley Field that could accommodate a news conference. The Dodgers’ media contingent travels large, as does the organization’s traveling party. Skubal is now the latest avatar for a Dodgers team accused of destroying the sport, even if the left-hander himself did not have any agency in it.Skubal bristled at the idea that fans would be upset that the Dodgers, reigning back-to-back World Series champions, could land the best (and their only) target during this deadline period.The Dodgers landed Skubal through the strength of their farm system and a willingness to be aggressive in discussions with the Tigers and their president of baseball operations Scott Harris. This was not a flex of financial resources, though they will absorb the around $10 million owed to Skubal the rest of the season before he hits free agency. Their package — a pair of top-70 prospects in outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-hander River Ryan, with right-hander Brady Smith — fit what the Tigers were seeking.“They’ve developed a really good organization,” Skubal said. “They draft well, they acquire talent really well. They retain talent. It’s a winning organization. Now the complaints seem to be (that) because they’ve won the last two World Series. I don’t think it was like that three years ago. I don’t really sympathize with people that are complaining because the Dodgers do all the right things.”Skubal did not expect to land in Los Angeles. The Tigers stabilized when Skubal returned just 38 days after a NanoNeedle device removed a bone chip from his left elbow. They were within striking distance of a postseason spot when they dealt him.“Every single day in Detroit I was trying to do what I could to help our team win and when I took the mound to try and win,” Skubal said. “I didn’t put a ton of thought into it. I try to live pretty presently where my feet are because if you let the noise impact who you are, it’ll put you in a weird headspace and I don’t like operating in that headspace.”Then came Wednesday, which was Skubal’s final start with the only organization he’s ever known. The Tigers built a 7-0 lead against the Baltimore Orioles. Skubal exited to an ovation from the Comerica Park crowd. Then Detroit lost 10-9 in extra innings. That signaled the end.“Losing that game kind of felt like that was kind of it for me in Detroit,” Skubal said.By Friday, the Dodgers started trade talks with the Tigers. The next day, Skubal threw his bullpen session and got traded.He had no say in where he went, he said, and never discussed any preferred landing spots with Harris. Skubal heaped praise on a rotation that now might be the best ever assembled when healthy, said he was eager to watch how Yoshinobu Yamamoto went about his work and said watching the Dodgers complete their quest for a repeat in seven games against the Toronto Blue Jays last October “has kind of fueled me.”But this, at least for now, is a short-term partnership. Skubal said he did not want to get into “the business side of what’s happening” when asked about a potential extension. He wants to blend in right now, and might be on the only roster in baseball where a multi-time Cy Young winner could “be a chameleon,” as Skubal said he’d like to be.While computer models were already bullish on the club’s odds of becoming the first-ever National League team to three-peat, those odds jumped notably when they acquired Skubal (from 25.7 percent before the deal on FanGraphs to 29.2 percent when they took the field Monday after the trade deadline had passed.Skubal will be leaned on, even on a team that has won consecutive titles without him.“I think pressure in this game is a privilege,” Skubal said. “Not a lot of guys in the game get to wear that. So it’s an honor to have expectations around you. I’ve always thought that. It’s an honor to have a fan base that expects me to go out there and perform. It’s an honor to have teammates that expect me to go out and put us in a position to win. So that pressure has always been a privilege to me. I’m excited. It’s what fuels me.”After he spoke Monday, Skubal had a routine to maintain. He went out and played catch in the outfield at Wrigley Field. Then he went and observed new teammate Eric Lauer’s bullpen session. With the deadline officially behind him, Skubal can shift his sights for a bit.“The entire focus of this organization is on winning championships, and that is my entire focus playing baseball, so we’re very much aligned,” Skubal said.