After bowing out of the postseason in the AL Division Series for the second straight season, there could be a lot of changes inside the Detroit Tigers organization. One major change could be a trade of ace Tarik Skubal. According to ESPN insider Buster Olney, there will be a number of teams chasing Skubal, including the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox.
“The Mariners are expected to be among the teams that go after Skubal, to bring him back to the city where he attended college,” opined Olney on Wednesday morning. “The Mets, of course, have an acute need for an ace to lead their rotation — a need borne out through their late-season collapse — and they have the sort of major-league-ready young talent that the Tigers will want, like Jonah Tong. The Red Sox are well-positioned to make a run at Skubal, if they want.”
There's no doubt that Skubal would improve every other starting rotation in the MLB. The reigning AL Cy Young award winner could very well win the honor for a second straight year. Except maybe a couple of teams, Skubal would certainly be an ace almost anywhere else in the league. He'd certainly be an ace in Seattle and New York, and at worst the co-ace to Boston's Garrett Crochet, another dominant lefty. What would it take for any of these teams to swing such a massive trade for the Tigers' ace?
Tarik Skubal could boost every other MLB team's rotation
The Red Sox, Mariners, and Mets are all able to build the types of packages that would intrigue the Tigers in a potential Skubal deal. The Mets could be the best fit, as they can offer young starters like Jonah Tong or Nolan McLean as the centerpiece of their packages. Other top starting pitching prospects like Brandon Sproat and Jonathan Santucci would be available, plus bats such as Jett Williams and Ryan Clifford.
The Mariners could offer infielders Cole Young and Colt Emerson, in addition to starters Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan. Boston still has a deep farm system. They could offer young major leaguers like infielders Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, as well as an outfielder like Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu. A host of other teams, like the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees, will certainly check in on Skubal as well. Will the Tigers end up dealing Skubal this winter, or hold onto their ace for another potential shot at a World Series in 2026?
