Tarik Skubal is enjoying a breakout season for the Detroit Tigers, pitching himself into Cy Young award conversations. But there might actually be a chance that an opposing team could trade for him with a compelling enough package. The Baltimore Orioles seem to be such a suitor.
The Orioles, still stocked with talent in their farm system despite already rostering numerous young stars in the majors, will come up as a trade suitor for most stars because they can seemingly outbid any other team. They made a huge splash this offseason by landing former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, who has been really good this season, and pairing such a great right with a great lefty in Skubal would instantly make them the undisputed top team of the American League if not all of Major League Baseball.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network said that the Tigers are not likely to trade their ace but that the Orioles are a team that could potentially pull it off given the prospects they have to trade and their need to upgrade their starting pitching rotation.
“I had one major league scout tell me this week that a lot of talent evaluators around the industry are asking the same question: Is Tarik Skubal actually available on the trade market ahead of the deadline on July 30th? Candidly, we don't know,” he said. “The Tigers have not said one way or the other at this juncture if Skubal is going to be available, the one team that we could imagine potentially having a compelling conversation with the Tigers would be the Baltimore Orioles because of the amount of high-level, position-player talent they have in the minor leagues and certainly among their young major leaguers, as well.”
Orioles named as potential Tarik Skubal trade suitor
Morosi makes it clear that he sees the Tigers trading Skubal as a “very unlikely” scenario because of his talent, Detroit having a few more years of control over his contract and the team's desire to start contending for the playoffs again in the near future. He also named the Los Angeles Dodgers, who almost traded for a different Tigers starter (Eduardo Rodriguez) last season, as a potential suitor in need of pitching.
Skubal earned the first All-Star nod of his career this season but has been a high-level starter for a few years now. He leads the majors with a 0.900 WHIP and owns a 2.37 ERA in 110.0 innings. At this point, his talent speaks for itself. The Tigers should absolutely not trade him unless they can get a potential superstar like Jackson Holliday in return.
Ahead of the July 30 trade deadline, Skubal is not one of the most likely names to watch. Any player on the Miami Marlins or Chicago White Sox seems much more likely to be dealt, as do veteran starters on bad teams like Tyler Anderson and Chris Bassitt. The rich somehow find ways to get richer at the deadline, though, so a trade for Skubal may not be entirely out of the question.
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