The Detroit Tigers traded away Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the deadline.
Skubal is a pending free agent, so Detroit wanted to get something back for him. Yet, after the deal, the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner said he was open to returning to Detroit in free agency.
However, MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today revealed that Skubal will only go to the Dodgers or the New York Mets due to money.
“Dodgers two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is saying all of the right things about his upcoming free agency, even revealing his interest about a potential return to Detroit,” Nightengale wrote. “The cold-hearted truth is that there will be only two teams who will make serious bids for his services: The Dodgers and New York Mets. That’s it.”
Skubal going back to Detroit would be a cool story, as many Tigers fans wanted him to be with their franchise for his entire career. But, as Nightengale notes, Detroit likely doesn’t have the money to sign Skubal in free agency.
Skubal Open to Returning to Detroit
Although the Tigers traded Skubal, the left-hander said he wanted to remain in Detroit.
Skubal made it clear that he had wanted to spend his entire career with the franchise and is open to returning to Detroit in free agency.
“I would love to play my whole career in Detroit. I would love to,” Skubal said on Pardon My Take. “And hopefully those negotiations can pick back up in November once the playoffs are done. We’ll see where that goes. Hopefully they’re involved with everything. I would love to return.”
Skubal admitted being traded was hard, but he understood it, as Detroit was outside of a playoff spot. So, his focus is on the rest of the season and trying to win a World Series.
“This wasn’t the way the season was supposed to go. Going into the offseason, [with] the people that we acquired through free agency and who we signed, I’m like, ‘This is the World Series team,’” Skubal said. “This is the team that I’m gonna go and win a World Series and beat anybody. It doesn’t matter what’s going on.”
Skubal is a two-time MLB All-Star.
Tigers Added to Prospect Pool
Detroit ended up being sellers at the trade deadline and added to its prospect pool.
Outfielder Zyhir Hope and pitcher River Ryan were the major gets for Skubal. But the team focused on adding more pitching to its organization.
“I think there was a little bit of imbalance for us before we got to this month where we had a lot of position player talent,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said last week. “I think we were a little bit lighter on the pitching side, and the opportunity to add River Ryan, to add Kash Mayfield, to add Cameron Flukey and some other really interesting arms in the Draft, it really changes the trajectory of this organization.”
Despite being sellers, the Tigers are also still in playoff contention. Detroit is 60-64 and 1 game back of a Wild Card spot.
Tigers Handed Grim Outlook on Potential Reunion With Tarik Skubal