RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal exited Wednesday's loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the top of the seventh inning after striking out six. The crowd at Comerica Park gave Skubal a standing ovation while he walked to the dugout.
The MLB trade deadline is Monday, Aug. 3, and this was the Tigers' last home game until Aug. 11. By then, Skubal could be on any number of teams. ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan threw out five of the most likely on his "Sources Tell Jeff Passan" podcast.
"When I talk to opposing executives, they all say the same thing: The Tigers want to trade Tarik Skubal, but can they?" Passan said . "And that's where we're gonna get to over the next few days. Detroit needs to make a decision, and there are gonna be plenty of suitors."
"The Rays want Tarik Skubal," Passan continued. "The Brewers want Tarik Skubal. The Phillies could sneak in there. The Braves, and, of course, the Dodgers lurking around."
The reigning back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner would likely instantly improve each of those five clubs' World Series odds.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (67-40), Milwaukee Brewers (67-40), Tampa Bay Rays (62-44), and Atlanta Braves (62-45) are the four-best teams in baseball. While the Philadelphia Phillies are an extremely streaky 57-52, Skubal would only help.
According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the reigning back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers is the team to watch.
"The Dodgers’ interest in Tarik Skubal has increased due to questions surrounding Shohei Ohtani’s availability to pitch, as I reported on @MLBNetwork earlier," Morosi posted on X . "Yet it is unlikely the Tigers could obtain OF prospect Josue De Paula as the headliner in a multi-player package."
The interesting part for the Tigers is that, while their record is 51-58, the American League is extremely weak this season. Tampa Bay is the outlier. In the AL Central, the Tigers are only 5.5 games back from the Chicago White Sox for the division lead. It could be tempting to hold onto Skubal and try to make a push.
But the reality outweighs the temptation. Just today, the Tigers squandered a seven-run lead to lose to the Orioles, so this team making a surprise deep playoff push is unlikely.
More significantly, however, Skubal is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Given that Skubal could walk away for nothing in free agency, it seems obvious that the Tigers should trade him and net something , even if they can't get the ideal king's ransom.
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