The Detroit Tigers have had a horrendous season to date. After two straight years in the postseason as a wild card team, they are now 23-38, which is tied for the worst record in all of Major League Baseball with the Colorado Rockies.
The popular consensus is that they will be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline on August 3 and trade their ace, Tarik Skubal. He will certainly bring back a strong haul if they do decide to trade him, and it only makes sense, given that he is in the final year of his contract and unlikely to remain in Detroit past the 2026 season.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report had a few bold predictions for the deadline, and one of them includes the Tigers not only trading Skubal, but engaging in a massive fire sale and trading away almost all of their assets on expiring contracts.
“Casey Mize is also an impending free agent who will be highly coveted. He is currently on the IL for a second time already this season, but he has a 2.27 ERA (and 2.38 FIP) in nine starts thus far in 2026, this after he was named an All-Star in 2025. Could be a solid No. 2 or No. 3 postseason starter in a lot of rotations,” Miller wrote.
“Gleyber Torres is another rental who could be quite the trade chip. He has been out for a month with an oblique injury and wasn’t slugging worth a darn in April, but if he can re-establish that .389 on-base percentage from his first 32 games, there are plenty of teams out there desperate for guys who can get on base.”
Tigers Could Shake Up Trade Market
The Tigers hold all of the cards here, not just because of Skubal, but because they have a lot of rentals on their roster. They could engage in a massive fire sale and set themselves up for the future.
Skubal isn’t the only piece they have that could bring back a strong return. And there are even more pieces that could be candidates to move, as Miller points out.
“They also have Justin Verlander and Jack Flaherty headed for free agency, as well as Framber Valdez, Kyle Finnegan and Drew Anderson among their stockpile of eight players with one year of team control remaining,” Miller continued.
At this point, it’s clear that the Tigers are going to sell to some degree, and it doesn’t appear likely that they’ll turn their season around, but a lot of contending teams will show interest in their trade pieces beyond just Skubal.
Another Seller’s Market
Over the past several years, the trade market has favored teams that sell, and that looks to be the case again this year, which sets the Tigers up pretty well to bring back some quality pieces in exchange for their trade chips.
Skubal makes the most sense to trade, but if the Tigers have a fire sale, other teams could try to pry some of their other pieces away. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers operate in the coming weeks.
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