Tigers Weigh Holding Tarik Skubal for 58 More Games as August 3 Trade Decision Nears
Updated
Updated · MLB Trade Rumors · May 28
Tigers Weigh Holding Tarik Skubal for 58 More Games as August 3 Trade Decision Nears
12 articles · Updated · MLB Trade Rumors · May 28
Detroit still has 68 days and 58 games before the August 3 deadline, giving the Tigers time to decide whether Skubal should anchor a playoff push or be moved.
Skubal has missed 5 starts since April 29, but after elbow surgery using the NanoNeedle tool he could return in June and make roughly 9 starts before the deadline.
At 21-34 after a 10-6 loss to the Angels, Detroit has won only 3 of its last 20 games, yet still carries a 16.5% playoff chance in a weak AL field.
A trade is not viewed as the only rational path: keeping Skubal could materially lift playoff odds, while the compensatory pick if he leaves in free agency would likely fall around No. 29-33.
That draft-pick outcome is seen as less certain than a healthy Skubal trade package, leaving Detroit to prepare for sell, hold and even buy scenarios by late July.
Will Tarik Skubal's revolutionary elbow surgery make him the ultimate prize or the biggest risk at the trade deadline?
With multiple contenders desperate for an ace, who will pay the historic price to rent Tarik Skubal for a title run?