Despite the fact that they are on the fringe of the American League Wild Card race, the Detroit Tigers have been viewed as sellers ahead of the upcoming trade deadline. And the one guy whose drawing the most trade speculation for whatever reason is star ace Tarik Skubal, who is widely believed to be the AL Cy Young frontrunner currently.

Skubal has fully broken out for the Tigers this season (11-3, 2.34 ERA, 146 K, 0.92 WHIP), but his name keeps on getting brought up in trade rumors. While there are several playoff contenders who would be interested in acquiring the talented left-hander, it sounds like nobody is convinced that Detroit would actually trade Skubal in the midst of his potential Cy Young campaign.

“The dream is wheedling Detroit into trading Tarik Skubal, but not one executive surveyed actually believes the Tigers will move ESPN BET's American League Cy Young favorite.” – Jeff Passan, ESPN

Tigers seem unlikely to trade Tarik Skubal

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Skubal trade rumors have always been a bit confusing, simply because there are so few reasons to move him. The Tigers may not make it to the playoffs this year, but they have been rebuilding for quite some time, and could conceivably make it within the next couple of years. It's not as if this team is completely devoid of talent and needs to trade Skubal.

Beyond that, it appears as if Skubal is only just entering his prime. He's putting together the best year of his career at just 27 years old, and he's under team control through the 2026 campaign. Skubal will eventually require a massive contract extension, but Detroit has a lot of time on their hands before they have to cross that bridge.

Making a move for Skubal would require a massive trade package, and there are teams out there, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Yankees who have the assets to make an offer that the Tigers would consider. Established talent is always better than potential talent, though, and given how well Skubal is pitching, it simply wouldn't make a lot of sense to move him right now.

So while trade rumors keep on swirling, it seems like the consensus around the league is that Detroit feels like trading Skubal would be a foolish move. And while his status is certainly going to be worth keeping an eye on ahead of the trade deadline, as of right now, it looks like he will be sticking with the Tigers for the time being.