Getty Yankees trade target Tarik Skubal
There’s no question that there is usually a difference, in perception at least, between the MLB trade market and the Yankees trade market. That’s because being a prospect in the Yankees system seems to add a bit more juice to a player’s profile, seems to make him a bit more valuable than most, even if the cold numbers don’t seem to justify the hype. That could be the case with minor-league centerfielder Spencer Jones.
The physical tools Jones offers are obvious. He is 6-foot-6 and an excellent defensive outfielder. But while he has shown promise at the plate, he has not exactly torn up the minor leagues—he has posted a .237/.317/.403 slash line at Double A Somerset this year, and struck out 124 times (!) in 334 plate appearances.
Jones is only 23, and he is the No. 2 rated prospect in the Yankees system, per MLB.com. That bolsters his value. The Yankees have decided they will not trade the organization’s No. 1 prospect—Jasson Dominguez, also a centerfielder—which means that, with Aaron Judge and presumably Juan Soto already penciled in, the team’s outfield for the next few years is already taking shape.
Still, veteran MLB writer Jon Heyman of the New York Post says the Yankees should not trade Jones for much-needed pitching help at the upcoming deadline, with one major exception: If they can land Tigers ace and All-Star lefty Tarik Skubal.
Yankees Trade Talk: Spencer Jones in High Demand
Here’s how Heyman put it this week in the Post: “Jones remains the key guy other teams seek in trade. However, the Yankees should keep Jones unless they can somehow pry away one particular All-Star — and that All-Star is very likely to stay where he is. In what would be a major deadline coup, if the Yankees can land Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal of the Tigers for a package including Jones, go for it.”
Heyman cited three other potential pitching trade targets, all of whom were All-Stars this year: Garrett Crochet, Mason Miller and Tanner Scott, but says the Yankees should not swap Jones for any of them. Only for Skubal.
Problem is, Skubal is still under team control for the next two years, and given his numbers this season (7-3, league-best 2.41 ERA, 140 strikeouts in 116 innings), the Tigers are decidedly reluctant to deal him away. At 47-50, Detroit a longshot to make the playoffs, but they could be just a tweak away from being in the mix next season.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote this week, “Enough with the silly Tarik Skubal trade rumors. The Detroit Tigers are not trading him.”
Tarik Skubal Overcame 2022 Shoulder Surgery
Potentially bad news for the Yankees trade aspirations, but understandable for the Tigers.
Entering the season, Skubal was a bit of a risky proposition. He has slowly established himself as a top-tier lefty starter of the last three seasons, but he did so under the cloud of injuries. In 2022, he was 7-8 with a 3.52 ERA in 21 starts when he went down with a torn flexor tendon that required surgery. It was his second major surgery—he’d already had Tommy John surgery when he was in college, which had been one reason he’d dropped to the ninth round in the 2018 MLB draft.
He last pitched on August 1 in 2022. After nearly a year of rehab, he returned to the big leagues on July 4 in 2023, and was outstanding down the stretch, going 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 80.1 innings.
Skubal has not looked back since, which is why top contending teams like the Yankees, Dodgers and Orioles are pursing him at the MLB trade deadline. He spoke with The Athletic about the shoulder surgery and the perspective it offered him:
“It was more eye-opening than Tommy John was for me because I was throwing the ball well, and you think, ‘OK, I can keep doing this. I feel good.’ And then all of a sudden, my season is over, and it was very abrupt and I didn’t really understand what all happened. That’s what probably kickstarted looking out and trying to figure out what’s going on and how to manage my body and reinvest into it.”