Tarik Skubal to Atlanta? Braves Would Have to Pay a Steep Price for the Tigers Ace

The Atlanta Braves are reportedly making a serious push for Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, and according to a new report, the price tag is about as high as you’d expect for a guy who just won back-to-back Cy Young Awards.

USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale wrote Sunday that landing Skubal would cost Atlanta two of its top-10 prospects — including one who’s currently ranked inside baseball’s top 100 overall. That’s not the kind of deal you make unless you’re all-in, and the Braves look like a team that is.

Atlanta has been the biggest surprise in the National League this season. They’ve led the NL East for practically the entire first half, sitting at 48-27 as of this writing. That’s a club that clearly believes its window is right now, not in two or three years when those prospects might be ready.

The Braves as a ‘sleeper’ contender for Skubal

Nightengale called Atlanta the “sleeper” in the Skubal sweepstakes, which is a funny label for a team that’s been in first place since April. But the reality is, the Braves are competing with a long list of other suitors. The Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, and even the Tampa Bay Rays have all been linked to the Tigers ace one way or another.

Skubal is healthy again after that elbow scare, and he looked like his usual dominant self on Friday against the Chicago White Sox. He struck out eight batters in that start, and the Tigers won the game. But there was some friction, too — Skubal got into a shouting match with a White Sox player during the outing, which at least shows he’s still competitive as hell while wearing a Detroit uniform he might not be in much longer.

Will the Tigers actually trade him?

That’s the big question. Some MLB insiders say Detroit won’t even pick up the phone for Skubal right now. Others, like Ken Rosenthal, believe he’s almost certainly getting moved before the August 3 trade deadline. The Tigers are sitting at 32-44. That’s not a team that holds onto a Cy Young winner on an expiring contract unless they think they can flip him for a haul.

Skubal won the American League Cy Young in 2024 and again in 2025. He’s 29 years old, throwing upper-90s, and has two years of team control left after this one. That kind of player doesn’t hit the market often, and when he does, the bidding gets ugly fast.

The Braves have the prospect capital to make it work. The question is whether they want to empty the farm for a pitcher who might be the missing piece in a World Series run — or whether they’d be better off waiting and trying to sign him in free agency down the line. For now, Atlanta is in the mix, and that alone should make the rest of the NL East nervous.