Tarik Skubal got away from the Milwaukee Brewers, but perhaps more so because of circumstance rather than a lack of effort.
Milwaukee made a trade offer to the Detroit Tigers for Skubal based around three prospects, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported on Tuesday. All three prospects were reportedly hitters and at least two ranked among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects.
McCalvy also reports that shortstop phenom Luis Peña (No. 18 in the Top 100) was a confirmed inclusion in the trade package for Skubal. You can read McCalvy’s full report on the situation here.
Other than obvious untouchable Jesus Made (No. 1 in the Top 100), the Brewers also have outfielder Luis Lara (No. 64), infielder Jett Williams (No. 76), and outfielder Josh Adamczewski (No. 87) alongside Peña as their top-100-ranked prospects. But it appears that no combination of the latter four was enough to get a deal done for Skubal.
The Tigers accepted a Skubal trade package from the Los Angeles Dodgers based around outfield phenom Zyhir Hope and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith. But that package was deemed to be so weak that conspiracy theories quickly surfaced about the Skubal trade.
McCalvy does note though that Detroit was looking for controllable pitching in a Skubal deal. The Tigers also have a glut of talented young infielders in their farm system, which may partially explain why they declined the Brewers’ offer in favor of a more pitcher and outfielder-heavy package from the Dodgers.
