Plenty of eyes are on the Detroit Tigers as teams await clarity on whether or not Tarik Skubal will be available at this year’s trade deadline.
The Tigers enter play Wednesday two games below .500 but are 7-3 in their last 10 and have entered the American League Wild Card picture. If Detroit slips in the postseason picture during the final days leading up to the MLB trade deadline on July 30 and decide to move Skubal, they will hold the most-coveted starter available this season.
The market features a bevy of teams searching for starting pitching help, with the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers at the top of the list.
According to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, the Orioles and Dodgers are heavily involved in attempting to convince the Tigers of making a Skubal trade:
he Orioles are in a bidding war with the Los Angeles Dodgers to convince the Tigers to make a bold move they prefer not to make.
In addition to getting back into the playoff picture, another wrinkle in the Tigers’ perceived reluctance with a Skubal trade is his contract status.
The 27-year-old is under team control through the 2026 season, which doesn’t make a trade at the deadline necessary. The Tigers could elect to play the 2024 season out in hopes of securing a postseason berth, and still receive a significant return for their ace in an offseason trade.
At that point it would be plausible for Skubal to have a Cy Young Award to his name, among other accolades.
While L.A. and Baltimore have consistently been linked to the left-hander, a general consensus has started to form that the Orioles are better positioned for a Skubal trade because of their farm system boasting elite prospects on the position-player side.
Tarik Skubal trade offers
Given that Skubal remains under team control beyond 2024, the Tigers reportedly have informed teams they will not proceed with a trade unless it is for a significant return that overwhelms them.
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