Detroit Tigers Made Smart Decision Holding Onto Their Superstar Ace counterbalances LA’s Shohei Ohtani
The Detroit Tigers have seen their ace Tarik Skubal put up one of the best seasons by any starting pitcher across Major League Baseball with an AL-leading 12 wins and 2.35 ERA.
That’s one of the reasons why he is viewed as the favorite to take home the American League Cy Young award when the year is over, but it was also a reason why his name was a circulating through the rumor mill ahead of the July 30 deadline
Ultimately, they decided it wasn’t worth it to ship him out of town as they held onto perhaps the best trade chip in the sport.
Taken in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB draft by the Tigers despite missing the season prior because of Tommy John surgery, they had an idea of how good he could be. That was on full display when he made his Major League debut two years later.
Skubal has continued to get better throughout his career, but he’s also had some injury issues he’s had to deal with.
He underwent flexor tendon surgery late in 2022 that ended his season after 21 starts. This carried over into last year when he wasn’t activated until July 4, which caused him to only have 15 outings.
But when the left-hander was on the mound, he was special.
Skubal was named the AL Pitcher of the Month last September, going 4–0 with a 0.90 ERA in his final five starts that gave him an ERA of 2.80 with an 11.4 K/9 ratio across his 80.1 innings pitched.
Combining last year with what he is doing in 2024, it’s easy to see why they didn’t trade him.
There were certainly teams interested who seemed willing to ship out a massive haul to get it done, but Detroit appears like they are ready to take the next step in their rebuild, so shipping out one of the best pitchers in the game wouldn’t fit that timeline.
Simply put, it wouldn’t have made a whole lot of sense for the Tigers to trade away Skubal.
If they are ever going to contend in their division, and eventually try to win a World Series, they need an ace at the top of their rotation. Anyone Detroit would have gotten back in return, they’d be hoping will turn into the type of player that Skubal is right now.
So, the front office ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it to ship him out.
And the front office made the right decision.
Yes, they would have gotten back loads of prospects in exchange for their superstar pitcher, but again, there’s no given that any of those minor leaguers turn into what Skubal has become for the Tigers when he is available.
Just because a team is in a position to sell, doesn’t mean they have to empty out the closet.
Keeping Skubal and moving their most tradeable pieces was the smart thing for them to do.
