One Tough Trade the Detroit Tigers May Have No Choice but to Make

After a horrible spring training performance (6.52 ERA through 19.1 innings), Casey Mize has turned into another gear in his contract season with the Tigers. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft has been very servicable for Detroit throughout his career, but is on one of the best runs of his life.

Since returning from the injured list, Mize has seemingly been lights out for the Tigers on the bump. In his last two starts since returning to the clubhouse, Mize has recorded 12.2 innings of work, allowing six hits, two runs, and striking out eight, all without allowing a home run or a walk.

Mize's Baseball Savant page is covered in red (which is good), as his splitter and slider are forcing the most swings and misses in batters.

Walks were an issue for Mize last season, as more times than he'd like to admit, he would start ahead in counts and would end the at-bat by walking the batter. His improvement and his 2.47 ERA stand out like a shimmer in the eye to potential suitors as the trade deadline approaches.

Now, there are a few avenues that the Tigers could take when it comes to Mize. The first is obviously keeping him, and if they do that, there better be a plan to extend him to stay in your rotation, especially if you're about to lose Skubal.

If Detroit trades Skubal, the likelihood of Mize remaining with the franchise increases, as he would be going into the prime of his career and could even potentially turn into the ace that the front office thought he would be when drafting him several years ago.

The other option is to trade him and get a haul of MLB-ready players that could help the pitching depth, or even better, the offense. Starting pitchers are always wanted when it comes to the trade deadline, and Detroit has some of the best to offer, should they not be able to climb back in the standings.

Even if the division is out of reach, Scott Harris and the front office put too much money into this team to just blow it up if the AL Wild Card is still within reach. If that becomes reality, keeping Skubal and Mize would just hurt Tigers fans more if they decide not to trade them, don't win the World Series, and let them walk this offseason with nothing in return for their services.

Mize has been exceptional to this point in his career, though he has battled through some injuries. When he's healthy, as proven in his recent starts, he's the best pitcher on the Tigers' 2026 roster at the moment, keeping the team in games that the offense seemingly can't close.