What are the Detroit Tigers going to do with Tarik Skubal? They probably ought to be sellers at the trade deadline, but selling Tarik Skubal, even for what's sure to be one of the largest trade hauls in deadline history, is a monumental choice.
What are the Detroit Tigers going to do with Tarik Skubal? Ahead of the trade deadline, they’re not remotely a good baseball team. With Skubal being one of the most sought-after trade targets in MLB history and his impending free agency, a trade is plausible.
Pretty much every contending team would be willing to sell the entire farm to get Skubal. But the Tigers would be losing the back-to-back Cy Young winner. It may not matter, though, as Skubal offered up a warning to the Tigers if they don’t improve.
The Detroit Tigers are dead last in the AL Central. They’re 14 games under .500, and they’re really not even in contention for a Wild Card spot despite the American League being relatively weak. The Athletics are a game under .500 and still own a Wild Card spot. The Tigers are just that bad.
That means they probably ought to be sellers at the deadline, but selling Tarik Skubal, even for what’s sure to be one of the largest trade hauls in deadline history, is a monumental choice. He missed some time with injury, but he’s back now.
And he’s got a warning for the team. “The reality is we need to play better baseball or else, come the deadline, you give the front office an option to reassess where this team is,” Skubal said earlier this week. “And if they don’t think what we have is a World Series- or playoff-caliber team, then the whole team is going to look different. That’s just the nature of the beast.”
“The future for a lot of people in this room — not just myself — the outlook could look very much different in two months and it all comes to an abrupt end,” Skubal added. “We still control our destiny a little bit. We still do.” The Tigers are 9.5 games back in the division and 6.5 back of a Wild Card spot, but there’s still work to do.
The Tigers will play the Chicago White Sox this weekend, and if they can make up some ground with a series win, or even a much-needed sweep, then things will begin to shift. If not, then it’s going to get late early for a lot of players, not just Tarik Skubal.
“We play the team this weekend that’s winning our division,” the ace said. “It’s another big series. You don’t want to be playing playoff baseball in June, but it feels like we’re playing playoff baseball. We don’t have very much room for error, and everyone understands that. Everyone understands there has to be a sense of urgency. There has to be. Not panic. But there has to be a sense of urgency to try to win every game we play.”
Skubal said he’s not really thinking about the trade deadline, but it has to be lingering in the back of his mind. He’s arguably the best pitcher in the world, and he’d be an instant, major boost to any team’s title chances. Should the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, or Milwaukee Brewers get him, they’d be the World Series favorites.
