The Cubs need rotation help. Everyone knows it. And naturally, when Detroit comes up in trade talks, the first name on everybody’s lips is Tarik Skubal. He’s the Cy Young frontrunner. He’s the guy who can single-handedly change a playoff race.
But according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Cubs might be looking at a different Tigers pitcher entirely. His name is Casey Mize.
Passan argued in a recent column that Mize, a 29-year-old righty, is actually the better fit for Chicago right now. Not because Mize is flashier than Skubal, but because he might actually be gettable. And in a year where the Cubs are hanging around in the NL Central, getting a solid arm might matter more than dreaming on an ace.
Why Mize, not Skubal?
The simple version is availability. Skubal is a superstar on a Tigers team that’s actually winning this year. Detroit is 54-53 and seriously in the playoff mix. Trading their best pitcher would be a terrible look. Mize is a different story.
Passan wrote that Mize’s availability depends entirely on whether the Tigers keep winning. If they fade, he’s on the block. If they stay hot, he probably stays put. But even with that uncertainty, Passan sees Mize as a better option for Chicago than another arm on the market: Sonny Gray.
Gray is having a fine season for Boston, but his contract is messy. He’s owed $10 million this year plus a $10 million buyout. And he has a no-trade clause, meaning he can just say no if he doesn’t want to go to Chicago. Mize carries none of those complications.
“Even if all of the Cubs’ options return healthy, there isn’t an ace among them,” Passan wrote. “And while Mize and Gray, even at their best, are more like No. 2s, they are cut from the same high-strikeout, low-walk, limited-homer cloth and feature ERAs a point-and-a-half lower than any of the Cubs’ regular rotation players.”
Mize is actually having a career year.
This part matters. Mize isn’t just a name from the past. Through 71.2 innings this season, he’s posted a 2.64 ERA and a 0.977 WHIP, both career bests. He’s struck out 72 batters and looks like the pitcher the Tigers hoped they were getting when they drafted him first overall in 2018.
His stuff plays. His command is sharp. And for a Cubs rotation that has cycled through injuries and inconsistency, Mize would walk in as the clear No. 1 option immediately.
The Tigers have not confirmed any trade discussions. The Cubs have not commented on the report. But with the deadline coming up on August 3, these rumors aren’t going anywhere. The question is whether Detroit keeps winning long enough to make the decision easy.
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