Two MLB Execs Predict Fate of Detroit Tigers Ace at Deadline
The Detroit Tigers have one of the most coveted pitchers in baseball in starter Tarik Skubal. He’s a pitcher that could win the American League Cy Young award. He could also be traded before Tuesday’s deadline.
But will he? That’s the question with the deadline set for 6 p.m. eastern.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal posted a piece on what he was hearing as the deadline closed in and he listed 10 teams that are still looking for starting pitching.
That list includes the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Houston Astros, the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Any one of those teams could use Skubal, who entered Monday’s action with a 12-3 record and a 2.35 ERA, which earned him his first All-Star Game berth earlier this month. He’s closing in on his season high in strikeouts with 154 (his best is 164 in 2021) and he’s walked just 24.
The left-hander is highly coveted by those clubs for the same reasons the Tigers would love to keep him, including the ability to control his contract status for the next two seasons. He’s arbitration-eligible this offseason and he’ll be due a raise. But it’s not likely to break the bank.
Will the Tigers move him as rumors swirl around both Skubal and his rotation mate, Jack Flaherty?
Rosenthal asked two MLB executives to weigh in. They seemed definitive about what would happen next.
“They ain’t trading him,” one executive said.
“No chance they move him,” said another executive.
The Tigers have been patient with Skubal, who was Detroit’s ninth-round pick out of Seattle University in 2018. He reached the Majors quickly during the pandemic shortened 2020 season and earned a full-time job in 2021, as he went 8-12 with a 4.34 ERA.
But in August of 2022 he went on the Tigers’ 15-day injured list with arm fatigue after 21 starts with a 7-8 record and a 3.52 ERA. Later, Detroit announced that Skubal would have season-ending surgery on the flexor tendon in his throwing arm.
He started 2023 on the 60-day injured list and was activated on July 4. From there, he built up to earning American League Pitcher of the Month honors in September, as he went 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his final five starts of the season.
He finished the season with the first winning record of his career, as he went 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 15 starts. He struck out 102 and walked just 14.
MATT POSTINS