Details On Tarik Skubal Trade Discussions

It was a week ago today that Tarik Skubal was dealt to the Dodgers in a blockbuster move, with the Tigers receiving right-hander River Ryan and two prospects (outfielder Zyhir Hope, right-hander Brady Smith) in return for the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner.  ESPN’s Jeff Passan and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal shared some interesting tidbits about the trade, including the Tigers’ motivations in making the deal last Saturday night, instead of closer to the 5pm CT trade deadline on Monday.

The reports that emerged about George Kirby‘s possible availability factored into Detroit’s thinking, as per Passan.  The Tigers “feared if they waited too long, their best options could opt for a pitcher like Kirby with multiple years of control and potentially collapse the Skubal market,” Passan writes.  As it turned out, Kirby remained in Seattle, and one M’s official told Rosenthal that trade talks about Kirby “never advanced past the 50-yard line.”

Though it seems like the Kirby trade talks may have been exploratory in nature, the ripple effect was immense, as the Tigers were motivated to tell interested clubs last Saturday to submit their final offers for Skubal.  Both Passan and Rosenthal report that the Tigers were looking for the best players possible in a Skubal trade package, though Rosenthal notes that Detroit generally preferred young players who were closer to big league readiness and had a slight preference to adding pitchers to a position-player heavy farm system.

The Dodgers met the brief by offering Ryan (who made his MLB debut with four starts in 2024 before undergoing a Tommy John surgery), Hope (who is tearing up Double-A pitching and is likely going to be promoted to Triple-A before season’s end) and a bit more of a lottery-ticket type of pitcher in Smith.  The offer of outfield and pitching help just checked off more boxes for the Tigers than the best package floated by the Brewers, who were seemingly the runners-up in the Skubal market.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reported earlier this week that the Brewers offered shortstop Luis Pena as the headliner in a three-prospect package that involved two other position players, one of whom was another top-100 type.  Rosenthal writes that this was one of multiple trade packages Milwaukee offered for Skubal, with such names as Alexander Frias and Jett Williams also involved along with Pina.  The only real untouchables among the Brewers’ core of prospects and recently-promoted rookies were (according to Passan) Jesus Made, Logan Henderson, Cooper Pratt, and Luis Lara.

The Dodgers and Brewers have two of the deeper and more highly-regarded farm systems in baseball, which gave those teams some extra flexibility in meeting the Tigers’ demands.  Other teams in on Skubal were more hesitant about giving up a top-tier prospect for a rental player, even one of Skubal’s caliber.  Yankees GM Brian Cashman heavily implied earlier this week that Detroit wanted George Lombard Jr. for Skubal, while Passan writes that the Rays were similarly unwilling to include Theo Gillen.

Other suitors like the Braves and Cubs “made virtually all of their young players available” for Skubal, according to Rosenthal, but “never got close to a deal.”  Chicago instead addressed its pitching needs by acquiring Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, Ryan Zeferjahn, and Braxton Garrett on deadline day, while Atlanta added Tyler Mahle in less of a headline-grabbing move.

It seems like the Braves saved their biggest pitching-related swing for trying to land Jacob deGrom from the Rangers, but deGrom used his no-trade clause to block a move.  Rosenthal also reports that the Braves’ other explorations into the starter market included some talks with the Angels about Jose Soriano, who was instead moved to the Blue Jays.