The New York Yankees have one of the best starting rotations in the majors. But there’s always room to add a game-changing arm like Tarik Skubal, even though it could cost Will Warren or Ryan Weathers.
Warren and Weathers were named as potential trade chips in a deal to acquire the two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Skubal is in his final year of team control with the Detroit Tigers, and despite a midseason injury, still is 6-5 with a 2.83 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 98 strikeouts in 82 2/3 innings. Detroit sits five games out of the final American League playoff spot and is in fourth place in the AL Central at 47-54.
The Tigers Could Target Ryan Weathers and/or Will Warren in a Trade for Tarik Skubal
The Yankees certainly have bigger needs than Skubal, since they have the fifth-best starters’ ERA (3.63), effectively have four aces in Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler.
But the Yankees could afford to leverage that pitching surplus, which also includes 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, to edge out rivals like the Tampa Bay Rays or Los Angeles Dodgers and land the biggest fish in Skubal.
Rosenthal named Warren and/or Weathers as potential headliners in a Skubal deal, and the Yankees would have to give up more to land the lefty ace.
But Weathers and Warren each match the description the Tigers are looking for as a major-league starter, who has front-of-the-rotation stuff and is under contract for the foreseeable future.
“The way they would do it, according to two rival executives briefed on the Tigers’ thinking, is by trading Skubal for a controllable starting pitcher plus quality prospects,” Rosenthal wrote. “The starter would replace Skubal in the rotation, backfilling his innings but almost certainly providing lesser performance.”
The Yankees Should Trade Either Will Warren or Ryan Weathers to Land Tarik Skubal
Warren and Weathers both have had uneven seasons, with each struggling of late. Warren, who turned 27 last month, is 7-4 with a 4.03 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 98 1/3 innings and has not missed a turn through the rotation in two seasons.
Still, Warren has a 5.07 ERA since June 8, and the Yankees have lost four of his past five starts.
Weathers has been even less consistent in his first season with the Yankees. Though he has 115 strikeouts in only 102 1/3 innings, he is just 3-7 for a team that’s 12 games over .500, and he has allowed at least four runs and failed to get through five innings in three of his past four starts.
Neither Weathers nor Warren is likely to be a postseason starter, though either could be a David Robertson or Michael King-type Swiss Army knife the Yankees have deployed before.
But the Yankees likely won’t have to deal both to land Skubal. Plus, even if Skubal leaves via free agency, they still would have a rotation of Schlittler, Fried, Cole, Rodon, Warren/Weathers, Gil and Clarke Schmidt for 2027.
They may also have a new World Series flag flying.
Yankees Could Use These Young Starters to Land Tarik Skubal