Tarik Skubal apparently took his ball and went home after being traded.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Skubal pulled a petty move on his former team, the Detroit Tigers, after they sent him packing earlier this month. Christian Romo of The Detroit Free Press reported this week that Skubal took an espresso machine from the Tigers clubhouse with him upon being dealt.
Skubal originally purchased the espresso machine himself and had been sharing it in the clubhouse with his Detroit teammates for years. But Skubal has since admitted to taking the machine, which he says now resides at his home.
“I’ll wear it,” Skubal was quoted as saying over the weekend. “I did buy it, but I guess I’ll wear it.”
Tigers teammates were apparently sad to see the espresso machine go as well. Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkelson reacted by saying, “Couldn’t believe it. That was a really good espresso machine” (per Chris McCoskey of The Detroit News).
Skubal, a two-time Cy Young winner in Detroit who pitched for the Tigers from 2020-26, returned to Detroit to face his former team on Friday and helped the Dodgers earn an eventual 2-1 victory. The lefty was obviously well within his rights to take the machine since he had purchased it in the first place. But it would have been a classy gesture for Skubal to leave the espresso machine for his old teammates to enjoy, especially considering that he will easily be able to buy a new one with his expected record-breaking new contract this offseason.
