Could Baltimore Orioles Seriously Consider Trading Holliday for Tigers Ace?
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While the Detroit Tigers have insinuated they have no intention of trading away ace Tarik Skubal, the MLB trade deadline makes teams do some funny things.
For over a week now there have been reports that both the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers are both interested in Skubal and have been preparing a trade package for the young ace.
Those rumors, a small burn on just a warm stove, have not been stoked into full on flames by MLB Network's Jon Morosi on Monday. According to Morosi, the Tigers have had a scout on hand watching Triple-A Norfolk, an affiliate of Baltimore's.
Additionally, Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, Connor Norby, and Kyle Stowers all play for Norfolk. It certainly sounds like Morosi is insinuating that any of the three could be on the board if Skubal is in play.
The largest name of all is Holliday, who spent much of his young professional career widely regarded as the top prospect in all of baseball. It would take an enamoring package, likely headlined by multiple of the Orioles' top prospects, to pull of a trade for a pitcher of Skubal's caliber, age and team control.
This season, Skubal has compiled a 2.41 ERA, with a minuscule 0.879 WHIP in 116.0 innings pitched. And perhaps even more importantly, Skubal is 27 years old with two years left of team control after the 2024 MLB season.
Detroit must determine if their window of contention opens next year and if not, then moving Skubal for a package of elite, near MLB-ready prospects may be their best course of action.
Of course, if the Tigers make the decision to move Skubal, it would be a direct 180 on what they have been telling the rest of the league for weeks.
This time of year is all about leverage. And now the stove is fully hot and roaring.