With the Tigers falling off a cliff it might be time to at least talk about moving Skubal. I know it’s still early and the Tigers still have time to turn it around but its looking grim.
With so many teams being in the thick of the playoff hunt it seems like it will be a tremendous sellers market. On the other hand Skubal is now just a rental and he has the injury of course.
Best case scenario is that Skubal does like Flaherty did and comes back next year on a free agent contract after we get some good players/prospects for him now.
Gotta see what he looks like when he’s back pitching and what the Tigers record is then. For instance the Rangers are 2 games under .500 and have a wildcard spot right now. Most of the American League has sucked 50 games into the season with the exception of the Yanks and Rays
If he looks healthy and the Tigers are out of it in late July, you have to trade him IMO. Gets tricky if they are only a few games out of a wildcard though which could easily be the case with how bad the AL has been
The long term play would have been trading him before the season because the Tigers can’t afford him. But fans would have burned down the city. So absolutely, trade Skubal near the deadline after he presumably aces a few starts: only a few dumpster fires, max.
Yep. The timeline went from several months, then to late June after that surgery, and it went so well that they are now saying mid-june is very possible.
They showed him throwing off the mound a few days ago on the MLB channel and you would never have known that he just had surgery. He was digging right in, dropping down, and everything.
Lets say. skubal gets back mid june, rehabs in Toledo mid june.
Gets some pen work early July. All star break. That leaves 16 games. So were looking at 3 MAYBE 4 real full starts (5 innings 80+ pitches) before the deadline.
It could be enough to quiet the doubters for a trade package. I just don’t see them getting much for him. Unless Borus gets a back door deal done. Where its a trade then sign deal.
Either way IF the tigers want ANY chance of a playoff push. They need Skubal back. And use him the rest of the season.
His value is tanked with the injury. At this point, I would try to sign him for 3ish years at a solid starter value. You assume his value will return but you are absorbing the risk. He gets a guaranteed payday (even if reduced to reflect the risk) and an opportunity to reset value and still get an obscene contract in a few years.
I think him getting hurt probably doesn’t get tigers back as much. Harris should’ve traded him this summer. He was never resigning with the tigers. Tigers need a ton of help. Even if the rotation was fine and healthy, they still have issues hitting the ball. Tigers rank 26 in baseball for runs scored and top 10 in SO. Harris is Bob Quinn
You and I see Harris in a very different light. I know he isn’t perfect but his ability to find and develop young talent is 2nd to none. Like McG for instance. Every team in the league is probably kicking themselves for letting him drop as far as he did in the draft. It was Harris that saw it and nabbed him.
You can draft all you want, but you also need to help around those players as well. And he still hasn’t. If the Tigers could score runs . You and I wouldn’t have this conversation. Its like people pooping on me , when I said lions aren’t winning the SB 2 years ago, because the def was hurt and sucked. Same thing with pistons, you cant win without scoring the ball. Skubal, Mize, tork, Greene, keith , dingler, carpenter. Probably missing a few weren’t drafted by Harris. Those are the best players on the tigers.