In the outcome that the rest of the major leagues feared the most, the two-time defending champion Dodgers added to their starry stockpile Saturday night by agreeing to acquire Tarik Skubal from the Tigers.

The Yankees and Brewers were viewed as the two other teams trying at the finish line to land the two-time defending AL Cy Young winner.

The concern the rest of the league has with the Dodgers is that they not only have the greatest willingness to spend money on payroll and a refusal to ever stop adding elite players, but they possess a deep farm system from which to trade.

Tarik Skubal reacts during his July 29 start for the Tigers. AP Photo

Outfielder Zyhir Hope and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith were the cost to land Skubal — and make the Dodgers even greater favorites of becoming the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees to three-peat.

The Dodgers lead the majors with a 3.36 starter ERA and have a rotation presently with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and first-time All-Star Justin Wrobleski. Two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell is due to make one more rehab start before rejoining the rotation. Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani are viewed as possible to return to the rotation around Sept. 1. And now the Dodgers are adding Skubal, who since returning from a new surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow had a 2.87 ERA in his final nine starts as a Tiger.

Skubal can be a free agent after this season. The Dodgers lead the NL West by 10 games. They certainly want to seal the best record in the league to assure that they get a first-round bye. But mainly they are obtaining Skubal to make postseason starts considering their current status.

Tarik Skubal throws a pitch during the Tigers’ July 29 game. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Brewers were viewed as the other team going hardest after Skubal. They have arguably the best system in the majors and there was the dream of teaming Skubal with Jason Misiorowski atop the rotation. But it did not occur.

The Tigers began Saturday just 3 ¹/₂ games out of a wild card, but are six games under .500. Thus, they began to notify teams early in the day to make offers while giving concepts of what they wanted in return.

The Yankees had stayed engaged even as they heard a Tigers’ initial price that would involve two major leaguers, including a current starting pitcher, and two minor leaguers. It was not believed that Detroit requested the Yankees’ top prospect, George Lombard Jr., the son of Tigers bench coach George Lombard Sr.

If the Yankees were able to pull off a trade for Skubal, they would be improving what already is their strength — their starting pitching. The hope would be that maybe they could then more comfortably use another starter as a way to get much needed hitting.

But the Dodgers were always lurking — always seen as the team that could come in and close because of their willingness to never stop and the depth of their farm system to feed that philosophy.

And so the best team got better. It is everyone against the Dodgers — now plus Tarik Skubal.