If the Detroit Tigers trade ace pitcher Tarik Skubal, the cost to acquire him will not be cheap.
The Tigers are prioritizing “controllable pitching and athletic position players close to big league-ready” if they do trade Skubal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It remains to be seen if the Tigers actually decide to make Skubal available as they try to get back into the fringes of contention before the August 3 trade deadline.
The Tigers’ ask makes sense, since this is not a team that wants to enter into a full-scale rebuild. They made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, but with Skubal set to become a free agent at the end of the season, they will have some tough decisions to make on their short-term future if they do not get hot soon. If they can get some talent that could help them as soon as next season, they would have to consider it.
A Skubal trade looked highly likely in early June while the Tigers were floundering in last place. They have since gone 10-6 in June, however, and sit six games out of the final AL Wild Card spot after their win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Skubal has a 3.02 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 53.2 innings this season, and is back healthy after an elbow procedure. He could easily put a team over the top in a World Series chase, even if there is a real risk of him being nothing more than a rental player.
