Detroit Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal might be the best pitcher available before the trade deadline, but the team’s front office is caught between competing realities: Skubal is elite, and the Tigers are bad. Really bad. At 35-48, they’re sitting fourth in the AL Central, nine games out of first place. That has MLB executives buzzing about what general manager Scott Harris should do.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com polled executives around the league, and the responses show that just because a team has a superstar doesn’t mean the path forward is obvious. One American League exec compared the Skubal situation to the Giannis Antetokounmpo drama that never fully materialized in Milwaukee. The Bucks kept Giannis, won a ring, and the rest is history.
“I’ve heard arguments that they should have traded Giannis a while ago, but when you have one of the best players in the sport, there’s a good argument to just get into the playoffs, because your World Series odds might be as good as anyone’s,” that exec told Feinsand. “Obviously, Skubal and Giannis are different, as are basketball and baseball. And you may be stuck in a longer rebuild if you go for it, but aren’t we here to try to win?”
It’s a fair point. The Tigers aren’t as far off as their record suggests. They have young talent in Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith, plus a deep farm system. But their rotation beyond Skubal is shaky, and the offense has been inconsistent all year. Keeping him might be a bet on 2025 being better than 2024. Trading him could fetch a haul that accelerates the whole timeline.
One exec says trading Skubal is a no-brainer
Not everyone is romantic about it. Another AL exec told Feinsand that failing to trade Skubal would be a franchise-altering mistake. “There’s no way around it,” the exec said. “If they don’t trade him, it will set that franchise back 10 years.”
That’s strong language, but it reflects the hard math of baseball. Skubal is under team control through 2026, but he’s arbitration-eligible and his value won’t get any higher than right now. He’s striking out a career-best 11.4 batters per nine innings with a 2.41 ERA. A contender like the Dodgers, Orioles or Braves could offer young big-league ready talent and top prospects in return.
But some see Detroit making a playoff push
Other executives aren’t convinced the Tigers are sellers. They point to the AL Central being wide open. The Guardians and Twins are ahead, but neither looks invincible. The Tigers have a +10 run differential, which suggests they’ve been unlucky, not bad.
“There’s so much baseball yet to play,” another AL exec said. “They are not dead. They have one of the better teams in the AL and definitely the most talented team in the AL Central. My guess is that if they have a greater than 25% chance of making the playoffs, they will hold.”
So the Tigers are in a weird spot. They’re bad enough to sell but good enough to dream. The next few weeks will determine which way Harris leans. If Detroit goes into the break 10 games under .500, Skubal might be unpacking his bags in a new city before August. If they close the gap, the Giannis route starts to look a lot more appealing.
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