The Detroit Tigers had a difficult decision in front of them on Tarik Skubal. Now the injured list has made it for them.
Skubal landed on the IL last month along with Casey Mize, joining a Tigers pitching staff that has been decimated by injuries. The list includes Justin Verlander, Jackson Jobe, and Reese Olson, which means the front office has a serious decision to make about whether they are buyers or sellers at the August 3 trade deadline.
Skubal was the obvious centerpiece of any potential sell-off. He won the AL Cy Young in 2024 and has been one of the best left-handed starters in baseball since. He is under team control through 2026, which makes him valuable to a contender willing to give up a major prospect package.
The injury changes the conversation. Teams are not going to give up the world for a pitcher who is on the IL with an unspecified arm issue. Skubal’s value drops significantly until he is back on the mound and proving the injury is behind him. The Tigers may have to wait until July to even get a real read on the market.
That is also when the Tigers’ own internal decision gets clearer. Detroit was hovering around .500 before the injuries, and the loss of Skubal and Mize together has been brutal. The team is now several games under .500 and looking up at the rest of the division. The realistic path to a playoff spot is narrow.
The argument for trading Skubal is that the Tigers are not contending and will not be contending in 2026. A.J. Hinch has been clear that the rebuild is on a longer timeline than fans wanted. Moving Skubal at the deadline for a haul of prospects would accelerate the next contention window and give the front office assets to work with.
The argument for keeping him is that the Tigers have invested heavily in the rebuild and Skubal is a piece of the future. Trading him to chase 2027 prospects is the kind of decision that demoralizes the fan base and the locker room. Detroit has been losing for a long time, and the franchise needs the symbol of a star pitcher staying put.
The Dodgers have been mentioned as a potential suitor, particularly with Tyler Glasnow now on the 60-day IL. Los Angeles needs a starter and has the prospect capital to make a real offer. The Phillies could be a fit. The Astros always seem to be in these conversations. The Mets have rotation depth issues.
The CBS Sports trade deadline preview included Skubal alongside Freddy Peralta as the headliners of the potential trade market. Peralta is younger and under longer team control, which probably makes him the more attractive of the two. But Skubal’s playoff impact when healthy is unmatched.
The Tigers also have to think about Skubal’s contract situation. He hits free agency after 2026. The team can either extend him now and lock in a Cy Young ace for the next phase of the franchise, or trade him before the deadline and reset the timeline. The middle ground of keeping him through 2026 and letting him walk in free agency is the worst possible outcome.
Scott Harris and the front office have been deliberate about how they have run the rebuild. They have not made major splashy moves. They have built slowly through the draft and developed pitching. The Skubal decision is going to be the biggest test of that philosophy yet.
The injury timeline is the key piece. If Skubal is back on the mound by mid-July and pitching well, his trade value comes back quickly. If he is still working through the issue at the deadline, the Tigers may have no choice but to hold him through 2026 and try to extend him later.
For now, Detroit is in the worst kind of waiting game. The team is not winning. The trade chips are hurt. The deadline is approaching. Something has to give, and it is going to be one of the most important calls of the Tigers’ front office tenure.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
