Getty Tarik Skubal
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and desperate measures could bring Tarik Skubal to the Yankees in a blockbuster MLB trade deadline deal.
The Yankees are currently one game away from ceding a season sweep to their rival Mets. Even worse, their starting pitching was gone from the best collective ERA in the game on June 14 (2.77) to the worst in the game since then (5.87).
The Detroit Tigers are in no rush whatsoever to trade the Cy Young favorite Skubal. The team has won 11 of its last 15 and, even on the periphery of the playoff race, can see some hope for the future around their young talent. Skubal can be part of that with two more years of team control.
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez said it “seems unlikely” that the Tigers will trade Skubal. Unlikely does not mean impossible, however, and the Yankees have plenty of motivation to get him. Adding fuel to the fire, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman said the Yankees “are not that into” Garrett Crochet, another top trade target. With a need to bolster their rotation, maybe they’re going all-in on the guy at minus-odds to win the AL Cy Young.
Here’s one trade package that Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer put together that would send Skubal to the Yankees:
Yankees receive: P Tarik Skubal
Tigers receive: OF Jasson Domínguez (NYY No. 1, MLB No. 27), OF Spencer Jones (NYY No. 2, MLB No. 75), C/1B Ben Rice (NYY No. 5)
Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones Still Might Not Pry Tarik Skubal from Detroit
Rhymer admits that even this hefty package might not be enough to put Skubal in pinstripes.
“According to [Jeff] Passan, neither Domínguez nor Jones is ‘entirely off the table’ in trade talks. They can’t be if the Yankees mean to go after Skubal, and it’s hard not to ponder the idea after [Heyman] threw cold water on a Crochet pursuit,” Rymer explained. “However, this is another underwhelming offer that only consists of $70.1 million in surplus value. And besides, Rice is needed where he is at first base and Domínguez is currently nursing an oblique strain.”
Even so, there are compelling pieces here for the Tigers to consider. Dominguez has long been the prize of the Yankees’ minor league system and he showed why in a cup of coffee with the big league club last year (4 home runs in 31 at bats). Injuries have limited him to 23 games this year, but in that time, he’s hitting .356 in the minors with a 1.014 OPS.
Jones may only be the 73rd-best prospect in baseball, per MLB, but his stock is still rising. After a slow start in Double-A Somerset, he seems to be finding his footing, hitting .292 in his last six games with a homer, double, triple, stolen base and .500 average on balls in play.
As for Rice, there’s no getting around his struggles since his three-home-run game on July 6. He’s hitting .087 since then with 21 strikeouts in 46 at bats. Three of his four hits in that time have gone for extra bases and two have left the yard.
A Tarik Skubal Trade Is Worth the Sacrifice
This wouldn’t just be a trade for a pitcher having a great season. Skubal is an established star who has been great for three years and is just entering the prime of his career.
His 2024 season numbers are impressive enough (11-3, 2.34 ERA, 146 SO) but when you look at his last three seasons, he has established a pattern of dominance.
Skubal has thrown 321 innings since 2022, missing some time due to flexor tendon surgery. In those 321 innings, however, he has 365 strikeouts, a 2.89 ERA, 2.54 FIP, and a 1.000 WHIP. And he’s only making $2.65 million this year with two more seasons of arbitration to go.
Now think about plugging him into a starting rotation next to Gerrit Cole. Cole is still shaking off the rust from an injury that kept him out until June 19, but he’s found his form in his last two outings, giving up 2 runs in 12 innings pitched.
Cole and Skubal would make for a dominant 1-2 punch that, come Opening Day 2025, could consist of the last two Cy Young winners.