Entering June 26, the New York Yankees are 48-32 with a two-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. Moreover, the Yankees are approaching the midway point of the 2026 MLB season as the best team in the American League.
Nonetheless, the team could still use upgrades, especially if they want to challenge for a World Series. The team New York will likely need to go through will be the reigning back-to-back champion, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As a result, Jorge Castillo of ESPN believes the Yankees will be in on Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal as the Aug. 3 trade deadline nears.
“I would’ve had the Yankees above the Atlanta Braves,” Castillo said in a June 26 video from ESPN Podcasts. “I think I would’ve had the Phillies above the Atlanta Braves; I just think the starting pitching matters. And I think the Yankees are really gonna be in on Tarik Skubal because I think Skubal is the kind of guy.
“Max Fried has been an All-Star and a frontline guy for years, but he’s not the October guy. He has not proven to be that guy. I know he had that one start in the World Series in ’21, but Skubal is that ace in October who you can ride to a World Series.”
Yankees Rotation Would Benefit From Tarik Skubal’s Arrival
Furthermore, Castillo believes that the Yankees’ starting rotation will benefit from having Skubal, as it pushes everyone down, since New York would have an ace in his prime and arguably the best pitcher in baseball.
“I think that’s why the Yankees, knowing that Aaron Judge is 34 years old and Gerrit Cole is going to be 36 in September, are going to go aggressively after Skubal and put him at the top of a rotation that then has [Cam] Schlittler, Fried, [Carlos] Rodón and Will Warren,” Castillo added.
“They can also go with Ryan Weathers. All those guys are going to be shuffling between the bullpen and the rotation. I think this team will shore up the bullpen. Carlos Lagrange is going to show up here from Triple-A at some point to be a back-end guy.”
Will New York Make a Trade Offer for Tarik Skubal?
Meanwhile, Buster Olney, in the same video, questioned whether the Yankees and even the Dodgers want to give up any resources to land Skubal at the trade deadline.
“I had the same questions about the Yankees acquiring Skubal that I do about the Dodgers,” Olney added. “Unless they’re getting bad news about Fried behind the scenes regarding his comeback, do you want to expend resources to get Skubal when you have Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodón? You wonder if they’ll target other parts of the team.
“I think they’ll definitely get a reliever; I think they will add a reliever who is capable of closing games [and] I’m looking at someone like Garrett Whitlock of the Red Sox. I think they need a right-handed, swing-and-miss guy. That’s probably their biggest need.”
Tarik Skubal Gets Strong Yankees Take Ahead of Trade Deadline