Tarik Skubal is entering the final year of his contract with the Detroit Tigers. The back-to-back reigning Cy Young winner put together a dominant 2025 season, winning 13 games and posting a 2.21 ERA.
If the Tigers fall out of contention, Skubal will be highly sought after at the trade deadline, and the Tigers could bring back a haul for him and set themselves up for the future.
However, Jeff Passan of ESPN gave an interesting take, predicting that Skubal will not be the most sought-after arm, and instead, new St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Dustin May will have that distinction when July comes around.
“After averaging 95.4 mph on his fastball last season, May is pushing 98 this spring,” Passan wrote. “When he’s healthy — and he looks it after a scary incident in 2024 when a piece of lettuce lodged in his throat and caused an esophageal tear — May brings frontline-type stuff. Though his numbers were just OK last season, he threw a career-high 132⅓ innings, and if he can back that up with another full year of health, he could be a free agent prize next winter. St. Louis is in a position to trade anyone who performs, so May is worth watching.”
Another Top Target Could Emerge at Trade Deadline
The Cardinals are expected to be sellers, so if May does bounce back from his injuries and perform at the ace caliber level he is capable of, he could very well be the most sought-after arm.
Now, for that to be the case, the Tigers would need to stay in contention the whole season and essentially pull Skubal off the market. But even if they remain in contention, it would be hard to imagine May being more coveted than Skubal.
Skubal has won back-to-back Cy Young awards and has proven himself to be a very solid postseason pitcher, so the Tigers will demand a haul if they are going to give him up. That isn’t to say that the Cardinals couldn’t bring back a haul for May, but the only way he’ll generate a bigger haul is if Detroit completely pulls Skubal off the market.
May went 7-11 last year with a 4.96 ERA between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. Injuries have taken a toll on him in recent years, while Skubal has been able to stay healthy.
But if the Tigers are where they were last season at the deadline, leading the American League Central, then it would not make sense for them to actually consider trading Skubal, and that could lead to May being the top arm available.
What Cardinals Could Land for May
If May is indeed the top trade candidate for starting pitchers, his price tag will be higher than it would be if Skubal were on the market. The Cardinals would likely target a Top 30 prospect or two from another organization.
They were busy this offseason looking for young pitching, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if that is what Chaim Bloom targets again at the deadline. It will be interesting to see how things shake out when the time comes.
MLB Insider’s Predicted Most Sought-After SP at Trade Deadline Is Not Tarik Skubal